The Hunter or The Hunted
by Luna Kasanoda
Summary: Sequel to Watched. Going back to a Umbridge-free Hogwarts should be a blessing, but with the Alexander family getting closer and more insistent, Asteria Knight must decide whether she will become the hunter, or the hunted. Set in HBP. Pairings: JF-FxMale!OC, NLxFem!OCxGW
1. Chapter 1

**The Hunter or The Hunted**

_Chapter 1 _

* * *

Ferine Hall was never a cheerful place. It's dark, gloomy halls were laden with blood red drapes. The floors were paved with smooth, cold marble and upon the walls hung portraits of distinguished members of the Alexander family. Every door handle was fashioned from the finest Goblin silver, its purpose to repel any invading werewolves. This, however, is only a lasting sign of their ignorance, as it has no effect on carriers of lycanthropy.

It is not a suitable home to raise a child. However, a small, pale little boy called this place home for many years, spending many of his days roaming the halls and trying to avoid the portraits of his ancestors.

Demetrius Alexander didn't often take interest in his son, Castor. One of the two events in which Castor received his undivided attention was when they went to that large strange building with the black marble hallways and all the spinning blue lights. Castor always had a hard time remembering why he was taken there, but he was assured by his frequently absent father that it was nothing to worry about. The other time was during the special lessons, occurring on Saturday Mornings, about werewolves and how dangerous they were.

The rest of Castor's time was spent with his nanny. She was _perfect_. Her name was Felicity and she always looked the same. Her glistening smile, her floaty, floral robes and her shimmering amber hair... She was the only _warm _person in Castor's life. Felicity disappeared the year before he was sent off to Durmstrang Academy. He had never felt so alone.

But now he was returning to England for good to attend school with his sister; the sister he never knew existed and somehow has some sort of telepathic bond with. The sister who was what Castor was raised to hate. Despite this, Castor wasn't exactly _un-_eager to meet her and when he was sent to kings cross station to get her, he couldn't believe his eyes.

When he first laid his eyes on her, she, along a pair of red-headed twins, were muffling their giggles behind their hands. Her hair was identical to his, as was her nose, and when her laughter died down and she opened her eyes, he found that they shared the same eyes. Her frail body was covered in numerous scars, clearly visible from her Quidditch tank-top. She was a werewolf. A murdering... evil... half-breed... But after seeing her, somehow Castor had a hard time believing she would, or could, hurt anyone.

She was surrounded by so many people, that he was hesitant to approach her. His eyes never left her as she walked away, disappearing into the growing crowd.

"Castor Alexander."

Castor would recognise that drawl anywhere. He looked to his side to see none other than Draco Malfoy; the most tolerable of the kids his father had set play dates up with. Draco held out a hand, a smile twisting onto his angular face. Castor took it and shook, smiling at him, and then his mother, who stood behind him, looking flustered.

"It's been a while," noted Castor politely.

"It has," conformed Draco with a slight smirk. "You even have an accent."

"Eh, I'll lose it soon enough."

"Oh yes," said Mrs Malfoy, now with the slightest of smiles upon her face. "Your father mentioned your transfer to Hogwarts. I can't imagine why you'd want to leave Durmstrang."

"Well, it wasn't really a choice." admitted Castor. He shook his head, before forcing a smile. "I trust you'll show me the ropes come September."

"Of course," replied Malfoy. "You come out with me and a few of my friends this holiday and it'll be like you've always been a Slytherin. It'll save you from accidently associating yourself with riff-raff."

"I'll look forward to it."

"Then await my owl." said Draco, before strutting his way away with his mother.

Castor let out a deep breath, looking up at the large clock on the wall. He really should be getting home. Dad was going to kill him for letting Asteria go.

* * *

It was 12th of July and Asteria Knight stood in Sugarplum's sweet shop, several weeks before Neville's birthday. Her trip to Diagon Ally was a spur of a moment decision and Mrs Weasley was probably going to murder her for going alone. Ever since she received the letter from Neville, letting her know his address and how much he was looking forward to seeing her again, she had been incredibly stressed. Of course, it was a lovely letter and everything, but she had no clue what to get him. He owned every Herbology book in Flourish and Blotts that was worth having and the plant shop had recently closed down. Damn Death Eaters – didn't they know Ash had a plant obsessed sort-of-not-really-boyfriend to buy a gift for? But in all seriousness, Diagon Ally was barely recognisable from Ash's visit a year ago. Its cheery atmosphere had disappeared and shops were closing left right and centre. Even Florean Fortescue's, where she had sat with Ron and Hermione and enjoyed the best ice-cream she had ever tasted, was boarded up.

Ash left the sweet shop after purchasing a bag of Fizzing Whizbees for Neville – she couldn't understand how he liked them – and several bars of chocolate – a girl was needs. Now where to go next... She had already managed to get a present for Harry, he was so much easier to buy for; get him any Quidditch or D.A. related stuff and he'd be happy. She had ended up getting a flipbook of defensive spells and little flying figures of the Chudley Cannon Seeker and Chaser. Ash had even purchased a figure of the Falmouth Falcons' newest beater, Mandy Rosa.

She let out a deep breath, before looking up and down the street, wondering where to go next. Next to the sweet shop was a shop by the name of 'Cranville Quincey's Magical Junkshop.' Well, she may as well have a look. She pushed open the door, causing the little bell to twinkle. She looked around the shop briefly, only to find no-one else was there. Ash started to wonder around the small shop, which was incredibly cramped due to the many unordered shelves of... well, junk. Wonky scales, leaking cauldrons and chipped old teacups lined the walls. Ash was drawn towards the back of the shop, where tattered books were piled up disorderly.

One particular title on the spine of a particularly torn up book caught her attention; '_A vibrant study of Werewolves and Wolf kind.' _Ash raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. But nonetheless, she tugged the volume from the shelf. It had a bright purple cover, with the silhouette of a werewolf charging round and round the bold font reading; _'A study by Darcy Reed.'_

Darcy Reed... why does that name sound familiar?

"Goooooood Mooooooorning."

Ash jumped in surprise, hearing the long, yet sudden, drawn out greeting. An elderly man, wearing large glasses and a pair of bright yellow robes, had appeared out of nowhere. He was beaming down at Ash, but after a moment, his smile faltered slightly.

"Have a seen you before? You look famil-"

"No." said Ash quickly. It was probably suspicious, but the attention from the shop keepers and shoppers was getting on her nerves. She'd received a far amount of media attention for the last few weeks, mainly in magazines, and it was getting a bit creepy. It was like she had become some sort of poster girl for werewolves, but all Ash wanted was for the stares and muttering to stop, good or bad.

"That book will cost you a knut," said the man eagerly, unfazed by Ash's interruption. "I am Mr Quincey. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Ash got the feeling he didn't get many customers.

"Er, well, do you have anything do to with Herbology?" Ash asked hopefully. "I have a friend-"

The wizard suddenly turned and started hobbling away in such a fashion that Ash wondered how on earth he had managed to sneak up on her. He went behind the rickety old desk and peered into one of the many cardboard boxes stacked up against the wall. He started rummaging around, causing all sorts of bizarre noises to come from it.

Then, all of a sudden, Quincey stood up straight and turned to Ash, hand closed on a black box.

"I know who you are." he said accusing, waving long, tin box at me.

"Er... you do?" Ash questioned nervously, backing away slightly.

"Yes... no..." Mr Quincey shook his head suddenly, like he had forgotten what he was talking about. Ash eyed him carefully. She really needed to leave. He placed the black, tin box on the desk.

"This came in this morning." He said, prying open the tin. "People normally just hand in boxes of random things... this was a good find."

Ash cautiously approached the desk. Her eyes widened. Inside the box was a small plant pruning kit, probably made of silver. But what caught her eye were the tiny plant clippers. They were sharp, with the handles were engraved with different types of magical plants, all animated by magic. For several moments, Devil's Snare was squirming around the left handle, and then it faded and formed a howling mandrake.

"They're incredible." gasped Ash, putting the book on the table.

"Yes, yes they are." said Mr Quincey, placing the lid back on the box, picking both the box and the book up. He grabbed a paper bag from under the desk and placed them inside. "That'll be ten gallons."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit extortionate?" she questioned.

Mr Quincey pursed his lips. "Eight."

"Four."

"Seven."

"Five."

"Six."

"Done." said Ash, dropping the gallons on the desk with a smile and picking up the bag.

She left the shop as the man called cheerfully, "Come again."

Ash grinned, stepping out into the street. Well now she had both boys sorted. She considered going back to the burrow... but another idea popped into her head. Maybe she should stop by Fred and George's shop for a surprise visit. Max would be there after all.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was the only shop which seemed to be doing well, despite the fact it had only been open a week or two. It was painted a garish orange and featured a large head of either Fred or George upon its roof, which had been charmed to raise its hat every so often. Several posters featured in the windows for their most popular products.

She couldn't suppress a grin when she entered the shop and found it bustling with excited teens. She made her way through the brightly decorated shops, ducking out of the way of occasional Fanged Frisbees. Eventually she spotted two identical men, both dressed in outrageous magenta robes, joking with another young man, wearing a pair of more professional brown robes. Well, upon closer inspection, the brunet didn't seem to be that amused.

"Come on, lighten up Maxie." cooed Fred, poking his friend's face.

"Yeah," cooed George, starting to prod the man's left shoulder. "Business is booming. A successful guy like you-"

"-you'll find someone else soon enough."

"What are you talking about?" piped up Ash.

The three friends jumped and Fred and George whirled round to face her.

"Scar-face!" cried the twins in unison. Ash raised an eyebrow, before rolling her eyes and grinning.

"Nice shop, it looks like you're doing every other shop here out of business." Ash noted jokingly.

"Did you come here alone?" asked Max disapprovingly.

"Nice to see you too." noted Ash sarcastically, crossing her arms. "And yes, I did."

"Asteria..." sighed Max.

"Ooo, full name. Am I in trouble?"

Max wasn't able to suppress a slight smile. He reached forward and flicked her forehead.

"Ow! Why does everyone keep doing that?" she whined, rubbing her forehead.

"What brings you here anyway?" asked Fred. "I thought you were all coming in a few weeks."

"Well yes, but... I needed to get some other stuff." she admitted, feeling her face grow warm.

Fred and George raised their right eyebrows in unison, whereas Max leaned forward, arms folded.

"It's dangerous to come out on your own these days." he said. "You know that. What was so important that-?"

"I was getting Neville's birthday present." Ash said quickly, slightly embarrassed. It wasn't exactly the conversation she wanted to have with her brother and his best mates.

"I thought you weren't together any more."

"We're not." replied Ash huffily. "Not that it's any of your business."

"So you've come to us for advice?" asked George with a 'far too pleased with himself' grin. Fred wore the same smile.

Ash snorted. "Merlin no, I don't want him poisoned. Anyway, I already brought something. I just came to visit Max."

"Rude." noted Fred and George in unison.

"Mr and Mr Weasley," All of a sudden, a pretty blond woman appeared from behind one of the shelves. "There's a problem with the Pygmy Puffs. They've... well... started biting again."

"Ah," said Fred, drawing a long contraption from inside his suit jacket. It looked like a very over the top fly squatter. "Lead the way, Verity."

Verity and Fred sped off down the aisle.

"What on earth..?" questioned Ash blankly.

"Pygmy Puffs. They're specially bred Puffskiens," explained George. "But they're still teething at the moment..."

"Well yes that, but it was more surprising that you got someone to call you Mr Weasley."

"Bloody cheek." grumbled George.

Ash grinned, before turning to her brother. "Anyway, what were you three talking about earlier?"

"Nothing." said Max quickly, as George replied, "Katie."

Max shot him a glare, to which George shrugged. Ash frowned slightly.

"Katie Bell? Is she ok?"

Max sighed, scratching his forehead. "We're not together anymore."

"Oh." Ash frowned. She plunged her hand into her bag and brought out one of the bars of chocolate. She passed it to Max and smiled. "Who needs girls when you can have chocolate?"

George laughed as Max rolled his eyes, took the chocolate and pulled his sister into a hug. "You're such a fricking goofball."

Ash grinned, but the suddenly, something between the two of them started to glow and vibrate. Max and Ash separated, looking down in confusion. Ash tugged the chain from around her neck and pulled the pendent from under her shirt. Her half-moon Antinus-Lupus pendent was glowing. One of them was near.

"Ash..." started George.

"Nothing to worry about," said Ash in a forced, calm voice. "I'll go straight back to the burrow, ok? Say goodbye to Fred for me."

"Wait Ash!" cried Max, but Ash was already leaving the shop with no intention of returning to the Weasley household.

Ash looked up and down the street, trying to catch sight of any bright silver light. She ran down several blocks, turning a corner. What she saw next made her freeze to the spot.

A group of teens started walking in her direction. The group was led by Draco Malfoy... but there was only one member of the group who caught her undivided attention.

"Knight, you're contaminating our air." drawled the cruel, cool voice of Draco Malfoy.

Behind Malfoy were Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and a teen with eyes identical to hers. They had never met, but despite this, he was the most familiar. His eyes never left hers as he pulled a glowing half-moon pendent out from under his shirt. Why the hell was he with Malfoy?

"This was the sort of riff-raff I was talking about, Castor-" He snarled as Crabbe and Goyle smirked and Parkinson started doing her weird high-pitched laugh. Malfoy trailed off, spotting the pendent around Castor's neck.

His eyes widened. He looked back at the pendent around Ash's neck.

"But that's like the one your father..."

Ash finally found her voice. "You're... Castor..."

Castor stepped forward and held out his hand towards Ash. Malfoy shoved his hand back.

"You can not be serious." snapped Malfoy. "She's a werewolf, one of Potter's lackeys and obviously a thief if she has that necklace."

Castor hesitated, before glaring at Ash. Ash's eyes widened, taken back by the sudden look of hatred.

"This is Asteria Alexander." he said coldly, looking back at the gang of Slytherins. "My twin sister who my father failed to mention existed. Suddenly he wants her back in the family. I guess he already gave you your pendent."

Ash stared at the boy for several moments, before glaring back. "I'm _not_ part of your sick family and my name is _not_ Alexander. What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be studying to be the next Grindelwald or something?"

Castor looked like he'd swallowed his tongue.

"Ignore the psychopath, Cassie." squawked up Pansy. Merlin, she was annoying. "I suppose we all have that _one_ in the family to be ashamed of."

"How would you know that, Pansy," snarled Ash. "I always imagined that every member of your family is as foul as you are."

Pansy screwed up her face angrily, looking distinctly like a sneezing pug. She was about to reply, before Malfoy stepped in.

"Talking of family," snarled Draco, a malicious look now in his eye. "I heard from my aunt about how you screamed."

His aunt. Bellatrix Lestrange. Ash twitched, remembering not only how much agony she was in, but the torture of hearing Neville in pain.

"I've had worse." bit back Ash, gritting her teeth. "That's the thing about being a werewolf. The Cruciatus curse is nothing compared to it."

"Oh, I didn't mean that," said Malfoy with a cruel smirk. "I meant when she put the mutt down."

Sirius... Ash knew that he just wanted a reaction, but she couldn't hold herself back. She dropped her bags and without thinking, she grabbed his collar and slammed him up against a boarded up shop window. Pansy screamed and Malfoy started whimpering.

"Talk about Sirius like that again and I will make sure that you suffer." Ash growled. She hadn't even realised that she had started crying, but large, warm tears were spilling down her cheeks. Goyle decided it was time to step in and seized Ash around the waist, pulling her away from Malfoy. Malfoy fell down to the floor, overdramatically gasping for air.

"You think you're so high and mighty, but all you are is a pathetic little boy with an evil father." howled Ash furiously, starting to pound her fists against Goyle's beefy arms. Her feet were a good few inches off the ground and his tight grip was starting to hurt. "Sirius was a good and brave man, but I guess you'd never know anything about that. You are your father are just as pathetic as each other."

"Take that back!" yelled Malfoy, as he was helped to his feet by Castor and Pansy.

"Bite me, shit face!"

"Excuse me." said a calm, familiar voice.

And there stood Remus Lupin. Ash's first reaction was relief, but when she spotted that definitely not calm look in his eye, she realised how much trouble she was going to be in.

Goyle seemed to have gone completely dumb because he was still keeping a firm grip of Ash, staring at Lupin, whereas Pansy had caught Malfoy's arm and was starting to whisper nervously into his ear. Castor had fixed Lupin with a hard stare and Crabbe was just looking as stupid as ever.

"Gregory, if you will please unhand Asteria, it would be greatly appreciated." said Remus, in a dangerously calm voice.

Goyle immediately moved his arms from Ash's waist, causing her to fall to the cobbled floor with a thud.

"Ow." she grumbled.

Remus stooped down, picking up Ash's shopping bags. "Asteria, come on." he said forcefully.

Ash stumbled to her feet, kneecaps aching. Remus led the way and Ash followed, well until...

"Pansy was right; she's complete psychopath." taunted Malfoy loudly. "But I expected that. She looked up to that lunatic mutt after all."

"Don't." implored Remus softly, laying a hand on Ash's shoulder as she started to grit her teeth. The Slytherins were laughing now. The horrendous noise was ringing in Ash's ears.

But still Malfoy continued. "He'd be chasing rats by now, if my aunt hadn't killed him. It was just the pruning the family tree needed. Maybe next time she could knock off a few Weasl-"

Malfoy didn't have the chance to say anything else. Ash attacked Malfoy without a second thought.

* * *

**_A/N: So sequel, yay! Please review, follow or favourite if you enjoyed... or if you hated it, tell me why. Thank you! _**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Hunter or the Hunted**

_Chapter 2_

* * *

"Asteria!" cried Mrs Weasley as Ash limped from the flames. She seized her and pulled the girl into a hug. "Where have you been?! What happened to your leg?"

There was another _whoosh _and then Remus too appeared from the fireplace.

"Shopping." said Ash innocently, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her leg. "I left a note."

"A bit more than shopping," commented Remus with a frown. He pulled a seat from the kitchen table. "Asteria, sit."

Ash grumbled, and sat down, annoyed that she was being treated like a child.

"Oh, Remus, it's lovely to see you," said Mrs Weasley brightly, before frowning slightly. "Wait. What do you mean 'more than shopping'?"

"Asteria found herself, one again, in a fight." replied Remus with an unimpressed frown.

"Asteria!" cried Mrs Weasley.

"It's not my fault!"

"Are you hurt?"

"Not really." she replied, rubbing her knee.

"Draco Malfoy came out worse than Asteria. I did have to fix his nose after all." Remus said, looking pointedly at Ash.

"You should have just let him suffer." grumbled Ash darkly.

"Asteria!" cried Mrs Weasley. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"An unforgivable curse would have been forgiven." growled Ash, folding her arms. Why was she being made to feel like a three year old?

"Zat is an 'orrible thing to say!" cried Fleur, who Ash failed to notice was sitting at the kitchen table. She had been staying with the Weasley's since the beginning of the summer holidays due to her engagement with Bill.

"Asteria, you need to calm down." said Remus gently. "Draco was trying to strike your weak spots. You need to not let it bother you, or at least hide that it does so."

"I already warned him that I was going to make him suffer."

"Asteria!"

"What?!"

Mrs Weasley sat down in the seat beside the young werewolf. She gave a sad smile, looking into the girl's eyes which were blazing in anger.

"Asteria," she said gently. "Don't let a scared little boy bring out the worst in you. What a sad life he must have if his only pleasure comes from making others as miserable as he is."

Ash sighed, before giving a slight nod.

Mrs Weasley smiled. "Now, how about some lunch? Remus, how about..." she trailed off. Remus had already gone. Mrs Weasley tutted to herself, before standing up and rummaging through one of the kitchen cupboards. "That boy, I haven't seen him for weeks and then he just leaves. I need to get Kingsley to pull him to dinner."

Today was the first time Ash had seen Remus since Kings cross station. He seemed to have shut himself way since Sirius' death.

"What did ze boy say to annoy you so much?" questioned Fleur carefully.

Ash started staring at the table with new found interest. She wanted to look anywhere than the two women.

"He was boasting about how brilliant his aunt was for murdering Sirius." Ash said through gritted teeth. "And he said something about the further pruning of..." Ash trailed off. Telling Mrs Weasley that someone planned to murder her family wasn't exactly pleasant. "Well, it doesn't matter now." Ash mumbled.

"I see." said Mrs Weasley in a soft, sad voice, pausing for a moment.

"Oh Ash, you're back." noted Ginny, entering the kitchen and breaking the silence. She smiled, before glancing at her mother. "I heard shouting."

"Asteria got into a fight today." said Mrs Weasley, unimpressed, setting the tea on the table.

"A fight?" questioned Hermione with a frown as she and Ron followed Ginny's lead into the kitchen. "With who?"

"Malfoy."

"Wicked." said Ron with a grin. "Was he hurt badly?"

"Ronald!" cried Mrs Weasley.

"Yeah, I broke his nose, but then Remus had to come along and fix it."

"Asteria!"

"Shame."

"Ronald!"

The youngest Weasleys and Hermione sat at the table, while Fleur got up to help Mrs Weasley with lunch.

Ash lowered her voice slightly. "My brother was with Malfoy."

"Max was with Malfoy?" questioned Ron.

"No, stupid." muttered Ash. "Castor Alexander."

"Well, that's not that surprising." said Hermione matter-of-factly.

"Really? Because I'm pretty surprised." commented Ash grumpily.

"I can't see why." said Hermione in a hushed voice. "The Alexander's are purebloods, aren't they?"

"They are?" questioned Ron.

Hermione sighed. "Well, I spotted the name on the family tree at Sirius' home. And who else would be part of a werewolf murdering ring?"

"She has a point." commented Ron. "Oh! Rolls!" he said far too over enthusiastically as Fleur laid a bowl of bread rolls on the table.

Hermione rolled her eyes, before turning to Ash. "What he was like?"

Ash frowned. "It was weird. He seemed stunned to see me, and then reached out to shake my hand or something... then..."

"What?" questioned Ginny.

"Then Malfoy basically told him off and he turned evil... I dunno."

"So now Malfoy has another lackey, bloody brilliant." mumbled Ron. "You don't think he'll come to Hogwarts, do you?"

"I don't know." Truthfully, Ash hadn't even considered the possibility. "But they can't, can they? I mean, do wizarding schools do transfer students?"

"Well, no." said Hermione unsurely. "But they also don't accept students above first year."

"But I'm a special case scenario." Ash replied hotly.

"Very special."

"I heard that!"

"The Alexanders are purebloods," pointed out Ginny. "They have influence everywhere. I can't imagine it'll be too hard for him to get a place..."

"Aren't you lot purebloods?"

"We're nice purebloods."

Ash rolled her eyes as Fleur plopped a ladle in the bowl of soup Mrs Weasley had just placed on the table.

"Did you get Neville's present?" asked Ginny.

"H-how did you know that was what I was doing?" said Ash defensively.

Ginny and Hermione exchanged a glance as Ash turned to accept a bowl from Mrs Weasley with a thanks.

"Well, it was kind of obvious. You've been stressed about it all summer." reasoned Hermione, starting to butter a bread roll.

"You've only been here a few days!"

"Yes, well, it wasn't hard to see you were stressed. You haven't been acting normally."

"It's a 'bi' ric' 'oming 'rom 'ou, 'her'ione." Ron forced out through a mouthful of soup soaked bread.

"Thanks dork." said Ash, an amused smile gracing her lips as Hermione stared at him in disgust.

"No 'oblem."

* * *

The sight of Tonks, standing in the doorway of the Weasley home at midnight, was slightly alarming.

Ash had found it harder and harder to sleep over the last few weeks, so she had taken to keeping Mrs Weasley company while she waited for her husband to come home. When Tonks arrived, Ash was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking hot chocolate with three kittens curled up on her lap, opposite Mrs Weasley – or Molly as she had insisted. Ash was surprised to see Tonks' hair was no longer the bright, bubblegum pink, but a mousy brown. Her skin was a lot paler and thinner. She seemed... a lot sadder.

"Wotcher, Ash." said Tonks with a smile. It seemed forced...

"Morning Tonks." replied Ash, sipping her tea gently as Molly offered the woman a drink.

"I didn't expect you to be awake so late." mumbled Tonks, sitting across from Ash.

Ash shrugged. "Can't sleep."

"Oh." Tonks mumbled, before trailing off.

Ash wasn't sure whether this was a hint to leave, or whether Tonks just felt awkward.

Luckily, Mrs Weasley spoke up.

"How have you been, dear?" asked Mrs Weasley softly.

Tonks smiled. "Just fine, Molly. Work's been a bit much, but-"

"That wasn't really what I meant." said Molly with a sad smile.

Tonks glanced at Ash with a slight frown. "I don't think-"

"I think she could offer a fresh perspective." reasoned Mrs Weasley gently.

Tonks frowned, before signing quietly. "You and Neville are... together.. right?"

Ash raised an eyebrow. "No, not really."

"Oh."

Ash paused, taking a sip of tea. Relationship questions? Really? What sort of perspect- oh.

"This is about Remus, isn't it?"

Tonks stared at me for several moments, eyes wide. "Well, yes... damn it, you catch on quick."

"You don't exactly have to be a genius to know you like each other." said Ash, eyebrow raised. "Y'know when I first got suspended an-"

"Well, you were wrong." interrupted Tonks, voice trembling.

Ash stole a quick glance at Mrs Weasley, who promptly finished making Tonks a cup of tea and sat beside her.

"He turned you down?" questioned Ash in a low voice, which she hoped was comforting.

Tonks shrugged, cradling her warm tea in her slim hands. "He just keeps going back and forth! It's obvious that he wants to give us a go, but he keeps making excuses. He said he was too old, too poor..."

"And a werewolf." Ash finished.

Tonks nodded, swallowing hard. "I mean... I just... I don't care!"

Ash stared into her cup of warm brown liquid. She smiled sadly. "You sound like Neville." Ash sighed, unable to look at the metamorphmagus.

"Then why don't you listen to him?!" pressed Tonks.

Ash sighed. "You wouldn't understand, I mean, I know one day Neville's going to get sick of me." Ash said tightly. "He'll realise what being near a werewolf is like and go off with someone prettier and isn't so messed up."

Tonks frowned, looking annoyed. "Just because your werewolves, doesn't mean you can't be happy!"

Ash glanced away, taking another sip of her beverage. "It doesn't matter anyway; Our situations are almost completely different."

"What'd mean?"

Ash paused for several moments, thinking out what she was about to say, before continuing. "I think, I mean... Remus is older, isn't he? He's like thirty-something and relationships are more serious at that age."

Tonks shrugged, rolling her eyes. "You seem rather knowledgeable about this?"

"I've watched a lot of Friends on TV."

They both sent her a questioning glance.

"Muggle thing... I need to get it on tape. I've probably missed a lot of episodes..." mumbled Ash to herself. She shook her head. "I'm not really sure what else to say. Remus isn't the same as me anyway, but he might come around."

No one said anything for a while. Tonks looked close to tears when she looked up at Ash. "You're more similar than you think. You've both got that weird guilt complex."

Suddenly, there was three knocks at the door. The three women immediately looked around anxiously, but secretly Ash was grateful for the interruption.

"Who's there?" asked Molly nervously, getting to her feet. "Declare yourself!"

"It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry."

Mrs Weasley opened to door immediately, letting the headmaster and Harry inside. "Harry, dear! Gracious, Albus, you gave me a fright, you said not to expect you before morning!"

"We were lucky," said Dumbledore, ushering the skinning teen inside. "Slughorn proved much more persuadable than I had expected. Harry's doing, of course. Ah, hello, Nymphadora! Hello Asteria!"

"Hello, Professor," Tonks said as Ash smiled. "Wotcher, Harry."

"Hi Tonks." replied Harry.

"I'd better be off," she said, quickly standing up and giving Ash a small smile. "Thanks for the tea and sympathy."

"Dear, why not come to dinner at the weekend, Remus and Mad-Eye are coming?" suggested Molly pointedly.

"Is he?" questioned Ash sceptically. She found it hard to believe that Mrs Weasley had got in touch with the werewolf since his hasty retreat several hours before. "Bec-"

Mrs Weasley shot her a look, telling her to be silent. Ash quickly took an awkward sip of tea.

"No, really, Molly... thanks anyway... Good night, every-one."

Tonks hurried past Dumbledore and Harry out into the garden. Mrs Weasley frowned, troubled. After saying his goodbyes, Dumbledore too left the house, presumably disaperating.

"You're like Ron," Mrs Weasley sighed, looking Harry up and down. "Both of you look as though you've had Stretching jinxes put on you. Ron's grown four inches since I last bought him school robes. Even Ginny and Hermione are taller than Asteria now."

"Hm." Ash made a small noise of annoyance. She was now the shortest member of the household.

"Are you hungry, Harry?" Mrs Weasley questioned.

"Yeah, I am," replied Harry.

"Sit down, dear, I'll knock something up."

As Harry sat down, Crookshanks leapt onto his lap, purring.

"Ah, all the cats are here then." he noted. Ash picked Marco, Alice and Hugo up from her lap.

Harry's eyes widened.

"They're everywhere." explained Ash. "Last time I checked, Ron was snoring with Wendelin on his face."

Harry grinned as Mrs Weasley passed him a bowl of steaming onion soup.

"Bread, dear?"

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."

She waved her wand over her shoulder causing a loaf of bread and a knife to soar gracefully onto the table, the loaf slicing itself. Mrs Weasley took a seat next to Ash as Harry started to eat.

"So you persuaded Horace Slughorn to take the job?"

Harry nodded, his mouth so full of hot soup that he could not speak.

"Who's Slughorn?" asked Ash blankly, as Marco clawed his way up her knitted jumper.

"He taught Arthur and me," said Mrs. Weasley. "He was at Hogwarts for ages, started around the same time as Dumbledore, I think. Did you like him?"

Harry shrugged and gave a noncommittal jerk of the head.

"I know what you mean," said Mrs. Weasley, nodding wisely. "Of course he can be charming when he wants to be, but Arthur's never liked him much. The Ministry's littered with Slughorn's old favourites, he was always good at giving leg ups, but he never had much time for Arthur – didn't seem to think he was enough of a highflier. Well, that just shows you, even Slughorn makes mistakes. I don't know whether Ron's told you in any of his letters – it's only just happened – but Arthur's been promoted!"

Ash had already been told the news several times, but Mrs Weasley was always too happy for Ash to let her know.

Harry swallowed his mouthful quickly, gasping out "That's great!" in a hoarse voice.

"You are sweet," beamed Mrs. Weasley, who then went on to explain to Harry Mr Weasley's new responsibilities and the increasing number of jinxed objects.

Ash zoned out after a while, scratching the kittens behind the ears and listening to them purr.

* * *

When Ash awoke the next morning, she could hear talking from the next room. She was still staying in Percy's room. He was the only Weasley she had yet to meet. The initial feeling of awkwardness of staying in a stranger's bedroom was now dwindling, especially as figures of Quidditch players flew around the room.

She got up and quickly got dressed, before walking down the hall. It seemed like there was some sort of meeting going on in Harry's temporary bedroom.

"-hardworking, down-to-earth sort of person, whereas she's..."

"A cow,"

"Who's a cow?" Ash asked, leaning against the door frame.

Mrs Weasley almost jumped out of her skin. "Oh, Asteria, I thought you were-"

"Phlegm." interrupted Ginny.

Ash rolled her eyes

"Stop calling her that, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley sharply, as Harry and Hermione laughed. "Well, I'd better get on. ... Eat your eggs while they're warm, Harry."

Mrs Weasley left the room, shaking her head.

"Don't you get used to her if she's staying in the same house?" Harry asked.

"Well, you do," said Ron, "but if she jumps out at you unexpectedly."

"It's pathetic," said Hermione furiously, striding away from Ron as far as she could go and turning to face him with her arms folded.

"Lay off," Ash sighed. She was getting sick of Hermione and Ginny being rude about her. "She could be worse."

"I don't see how." grumbled Hermione.

"Well, she's not an arsehole, racist or a death eater." reasoned Ash, stooping down to pick up Wendelin who was clawing at her trouser leg. "So she's ok."

"Well, Mum's going to put a stop to it if she can, I bet you anything." retorted Ginny.

"How's she going to manage that?" asked Harry sceptically.

"She keeps trying to get Tonks round for dinner. I think she's hoping Bill will fall for Tonks instead. I hope he does, I'd much rather have her in the family."

"Yeah, that'll work," said Ron sarcastically. "Listen, no bloke in his right mind's going to fancy Tonks when Fleur's around. I mean, Tonks is okay-looking when she isn't doing stupid things to her hair and her nose, but –"

"She's a damn nicer than Phlegm." said Ginny.

"And she's more intelligent, she's an Auror!" said Hermione from the corner.

"That's beside the point." Ash interrupted firmly. "She doesn't like Bill like that, and I don't imagine Bill likes her in that way either."

Everyone turned to look at Ash, eyebrows raised. Ash shrugged quickly. Tonks' feeling weren't any of their businesses.

"I'd much rather have Tonks in the family," said Ginny, ignoring Ash's point. "At least she's a laugh."

"She hasn't been much of a laugh lately," said Ron. "Every time I've seen her she's looked more like Moaning Myrtle."

"Shut it Ron." snapped Ash defensively.

"She still hasn't got over what happened..." continued Hermione. "You know... I mean, he was her cousin!"

Ash felt herself tense, arms tightening around Wendelin, who in responsive hissed, scratched her and leapt from her arms. She noticed Harry to starting to shovel scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"Tonks and Sirius barely knew each other!" said Ron, continuing the topic insensitively. "Sirius was in Azkaban half her life and before that their families never met."

"Can we stop talking about this?" mumbled Ash, poking the tingeing scratch on her arm. Her comment went ignored.

"That's not the point," said Hermione. "She thinks it was her fault he died!"

"How does she work that one out?" asked Harry, pausing in his egg shovelling.

"Well, she was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange, wasn't she? I think she feels that if only she had finished her off, Bellatrix couldn't have killed Sirius."

"That's stupid," said Ron.

"It's survivor's guilt," said Hermione in a knowing sort of way. "I know Lupin's tried to talk her round, but she's still really down. She's actually having trouble with her Metamorphosing!"

Ash shook her head with a sad little smile. Really? Remus talking to her about survivor's guilt? Maybe, but that certainly wasn't all they were talking about. Ash didn't believe that Tonks was having trouble with her powers just because of Sirius. Her movement didn't go unnoticed by Hermione, who misinterpreted the smile immediately.

Hermione made a noise of disbelief. "Why do you think it's funny? I thought you were her friend!"

Ash was stunned for a moment. "What?"

"You've been like this all summer!" said Hermione, crossing her arms. "You're being cruel to everyone for no reason! I thought it was about Neville but obviously not and maybe Siri-"

"Just shut up, Hermione!" Ash growled, anger and confusion taking over. "Stop acting like you know everything!"

"It's not just me!" cried Hermione. "Ginny and I were talking about it and we think you're being really unfair-"

"Oh really, have you?" snarled Ash, eyes darting to Ginny, who quickly looked away.

"You weren't even that close to Sirius and Harry isn't acting like that!"

"How would you know?!" shrieked Ash, not quite yelling but close. "You don't know anything about that! Don't try and – and deduce me or something!"

"Look, I understand that things aren't great-"

"How could you possibly understand?!" yelled Ash, now completely losing her temper. "How would you feel if your parents were murdered and still have no idea how or why?! Or that your dad isn't your real dad and the real one and your mother murdered people like you?! Or that your new found psycho brother hangs out with Malfoy?!" Her voice was becoming thick from emotion, despite trying her best to keep it under control. "Of if you were suspended from school because of something you can't change? Or if you had the chance to save the man's life who saved yours, but didn't? How could you _possibly_ understand?"

Everyone was silent for several moments, before Hermione spoke up.

"That's no reason to take it out on us." said Hermione in a very small voice.

"I'm not – I can't – I don't – erg!" Ash quickly sped from the room, fists clenched and eyes brimming with tears. _Why is everything so hard?_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Hunter or the Hunted**

_Chapter 3_

* * *

After several weeks of doing nothing much, besides practising beating by using charmed apples and avoiding the others, Neville's birthday finally came. He had recommended that she take the floo network, so there she was; holding a handful of powder, standing in front of the fireplace. She started into the flames, trying to pluck up the courage to walk through the fire.

But all of her nerves started building up, curdling unpleasantly in her stomach. What if his family hated her? What if they had already decided that they hated her because she was a werewolf? She felt like she was going to be sick... then again, that could be because of the looming full moon. She shook her head. Why would it matter anyway? It's not like they're actually together anymore... Ash took a deep breath, threw the powder into the flames and stepped into them.

Minutes later, she stumbled from a completely different fireplace, on to an ornate carpet.

"Ash?"

Ash glanced up as she pushed herself off the ground. Neville quickly crouched in front of her, crooked grin on his round face. Ash smiled bashfully, before passing him a fairly shoddily wrapped box which had been gripped tightly in her spare hand.

"I... err..." Ash blushed at the state of the wrapping. "I tried?"

Neville grinned wider, before pulling the young woman into a hug. "Thanks."

He helped Ash to her feet before laying the gift on the table. Ash looked around the see she was standing in an incredibly neat sitting room. Painfully neat. It made the burrow look like a bombsite. She suddenly felt incredibly out of place. Even though she had picked out her best jeans and a smart long-sleeved shirt that she'd borrowed from Ginny, she felt incredibly underdressed – especially seeing as Neville was wearing a cardigan and smart trousers.

"It's good to see you." he said, awkwardly shuffling.

Ash quickly looked back at Neville and smiled. She went to kiss him on the cheek, before pulling away quickly, frowning. Would that give him the wrong idea? Friends don't kiss each other on the cheek... Do they? No.

"What?" he questioned anxiously. "Have I got something on my face?" he asked, suddenly starting to rub is face to check.

"No." replied Ash quickly. She had to come up with a lie... "You've grown." she lied easily, folding her arms against her chest. "You're taller than me now!"

To be fair, it was true. He was now several inches taller than his girlfriend, who hadn't grown since the summer before.

Neville grinned bashfully. He looked kind of pleased with himself. Ash was about to open her mouth, to tell him to wipe that look of his face, when Neville leaned down and kissed her on the nose. Her face flushed and eyes wide. Neville just grinned, looking kind of embarrassed too.

Ok, that was definitely a more than friendly act. Ash quickly brushed it off – muttering, "Dork," – and looked away. Should she say something? No... not now anyway. Her eyes lay on the present now on the table, and picked it up once more. "You should open it!" Ash cried excitedly.

Neville grinned, taking the present and starting to unpick the shoddy wrapping paper. He lifted up the top of the box, and his face lit up. Ash grinned as he stared down at the enchanted pruning kit.

He looked back up at her. "Ash... this must have been... really expensive..."

"Nah," Ash replied, waving it off. "I'm surprisingly good at haggling."

Neville put down the box and wrapped his arms around Ash. "Thank you!"

Ash grinned into his chest.

"Neville?!" squawked a voice of an elderly woman from the next room, breaking the comfortable silence. "Are you bringing her through?!"

"Yeah, coming!" replied Neville loudly. He unravelled himself from Ash and took her hand. "That's my great aunt, c'mon."

Ash's eyes widened as he pulled her across the room and into the next. If possible, the room was even fancier. Portraits hung from the wall, all of them peering at Ash and started to mutter among themselves. But more worryingly, three elderly people sat upon elegant arm chairs. Only one was truly smiling. Ash remembered her from the Hospital – Neville's Gran. The other woman was half smiling, but was eyeing Ash with a critical glare. The man had a sour expression on his face.

"Erm," started Neville. "This is Ash. Ash, this is my Aunt Enid, Uncle Algie and you've met Gran."

"Hi." greeted Ash, shuffling her feet nervously. "It's nice to meet you."

"My Merlin, girl!" cried Algie. "What happened to your face?"

"Uncle!" cried Neville, face going red. He tightened his grasp on Ash's hand protectively as his aunt leaned over and smacked her husband's leg with a book.

Ash smiled uneasily, rubbing her arm with her spare hand. "I... erm," she glanced anxiously at Neville, having a sudden realisation. What if he hadn't told them she was a werewolf? Was he embarrassed by her? But surely they read the daily prophet... no they didn't. Didn't Neville say his grandmother cancelled her subscription after they started publishing bad stuff about Harry and Dumbledore?

"We had this conversation earlier." mumbled Neville, who was obviously angry and embarrassed. Oh. He did mention it.

"You were serious?!" cried Algie. "But they can't let werewolves at Hogwarts! It's a disgra-"

Enid smacked her husband with her book again.

Neville's Gran stood up, her impressive robes reaching the floor. "It's good to see you again, Asteria. Neville, show Asteria the house while I finish up lunch."

Neville nodded stiffly, before striding from the room, pulling Ash with him. He didn't say anything for several moments, walking up the stairs, but the tight grip on her hand loosened slightly.

"I'm really, really sorry." he said as they reached the top of the polished oak stairs. "He's quite old, sometimes he doesn't know what he's saying-"

"Neville," said Ash quietly, "It's fine, I'm used to it."

"It's not fine." replied Neville as they walked side by side down the hall, which was laden with bizarre paintings – the most peculiar being one featuring a pink warthog chasing a blue elephant. If it had a deeper meaning, Ash couldn't think of one.

"I like your home." said Ash, changing the subject quickly.

"Thanks," said Neville, giving a small smile. "Shame about the company."

"It's not any worse than at the burrow at the moment." mumbled Ash. "Your Gran seemed nice though."

Neville frowned, stopping to open the nearest door, and stepping inside. Ash followed to find that it was his bedroom. It wasn't really what she had expected – not that she's thought about his bedroom; that would be creepy. It wasn't quiet as sophisticated as the rest of the house, and it was obvious that it had Neville had done some last minute tidying – namely, stuffing stuff under his bed. The room had plain white walls, featuring several photographs of different people, none of who Ash recognised. There was Neville's cactus-thing on his bedside table, beside a large, clunky camera. There was some sort of vine-like plant growing around his window frame and a mound of Herbology books stacked by his old wooden wardrobe.

Ash turned to Neville, to see that he was slightly red in the face. Ash smiled lightly, understanding his embarrassment, so decided to talk quickly.

"I didn't know wizards had cameras." said Ash.

"Well, yeah, where'd you think the photographs come from?" said Neville, picking up the camera before sitting down on the floor, back against his best.

Ash sat opposite him, sticking out her tongue at him. He grinned, starting to fiddle with the camera in his lap.

"What'd mean about the burrow?" he asked softly, unsure whether he should ask or not.

Ash shrugged, taking a deep breath before deciding to talk to him. "I mean, I don't want to sound ungrateful; Mr and Mrs Weasley are lovely, really, really lovely. But there're so many people in that house. Ron, Harry and Hermione are the tight-knit trio, with Ginny joining in with them. There's Bill's fiancé – Fleur Delacour, I think she took part in that competition the other year – who Ginny and Hermione are always bitching about. Don't get me wrong, she's annoying, but she's not that bad. And they're always saying that they're going to set Bill up with Tonks instead, but Tonks is in love with Remus, who's never around. The last time I was him was when I broke Malfoy's nose-"

Neville raised an eyebrow.

"- when I saw him in Diagon Alley. He was with my twin brother – who's a complete moron by the way – and started talking about how Sirius was a mutt. And then Hermione had a go at me about being nasty to everyone, but I don't even know what I was doing wrong! And then she basically said I had no right to be sad about Sirius' death! But no! Hermione knows everything! I don't even! And then the daily pro-"

"Ash." Neville interrupted.

Ash looked up, finally stopping. "I'm so sorry, it's your birthday, I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok." he said, a comforting smile on his lips. He thought for a moment. "You could stay here."

Ash grinned. "Don't be silly."

Suddenly, there was a croak and Ash spotted a toad leaping across the room. Ah, Trevor. Ash frowned slightly, bemused.

"I see you haven't lost Trevor yet." she noted.

"Yeah," he replied, scooping the toad up. "He hides in here a lot when Aunt Enid's around."

Ash raised an eyebrow.

"She keeps trying new charms from magazines on him." elaborated Neville.

"Ah. Did any work?"

"He started burping butterflies last week."

"Now that sounds interesting." said Ash with a laugh.

"Not for Trevor." mumbled Neville as toad in question wiggled from his grip.

* * *

Having a young child in the house was, frankly, a little disturbing and annoying. Castor glanced over the top of his book and at the toddling little girl. She had been staring at him with her large, brown orbs for the past hour.

Castor let out an annoyed huff – although deep down, he wasn't really that mind that much – and put down his book. She stood up from his armchair and stood opposite his cousin. He frowned, crossing his arms.

The child – named Silva after her grandmother – finally stopped walking around and fell backwards onto her bottom. She continued to stare up at him, tiny fingers still in her mouth.

"You know you can't eat those." he informed her, arms folded.

The girl giggled; although Castor wasn't really sure how that was possible considering his words went in vain and Silvia still had her fingers in her mouth. Why was he dumped with this child anyway? Something about Dad having to chat with Aunt Nida... Castor wasn't really listening. Well, how long do those two need for a chat anyway? And didn't Silvia have a father who could look after her? Although... Castor hadn't seen his Uncle since he got back to England. Where the hell was he?

Castor stooped down and hauled the child into his arms. Silvia immediately clung to him, podgy arms gripping around his neck, practically choking him.

"You're more trouble than you're worth." Castor informed his cousin hoarsely, picking her arms from his neck.

Instead, she grabbed his half moon pendant. Within several seconds, it was in her mouth.

"Um, ew, no." said Castor, starting to try and pull it from her mouth.

As soon as he got it out, Silvia's eyes began to water. Castor started to panic as she started to whimper.

"Fine! Fine! You win!" Castor cried, stuffing the pendant back in her mouth.

She immediately stopped whimpering. Castor rolled his eyes as walked, Silvia on his hip, from the room. Walking down the cold halls, Castor did his best to avoid eye contact with any of the portraits. By now, most of them had pretty much given up trying to talk to him, not that they were particularly interested in talking to kids in the first place. Instead, Castor watched Silvia ruin his pendant.

"That can't be tasty." he muttered. "Are you hungry, Silvia?"

She just stared at him, drool starting to escape from the corner of her lip.

"Um, ew." he grumbled, "Merlin, why are you doing this to me?" He wiped her mouth on his jumper sleeve, causing Silvia to giggle. He rolled his eyes. "I'm never having kids."

He walked down the halls, heading for the kitchen, before he heard shouting in his father's office. Castor knew he would be in trouble if he was caught, but when he heard the name, 'Quintus,' he couldn't help but stop to listen.

"-he is a Silvia's father, just don't be-"

"He should have thought of that before he got bitten!" growled a voice who Castor knew to be Kono, Silvia's mother's brother in law, also known as Demon. Castor always thought those Antinus-Lupus code names were stupid as hell.

"You let your daughter live! Why not your brother!" cried Nida, Silvia's mother, also known as Pixie. That code name was even stupider, and didn't really make much sense.

Castor froze. Uncle Quintus was a werewolf. Since when?

"Nida, you know that it's a completely different situation." said the soothing voice of Castor's father.

Despite his tone of voice, Castor got chills, blood running from his face. You didn't have to be smart to figure out what was going on. Demetrius was going to allow the execution of his own brother.

"He needs to be exterminated." snarled Kono.

"Then he is your next assignment." replied Father cooling, as if he was discussing nothing more important than the weather.

Castor thought he was going to vomit. He couldn't help but look at the child in his arms. She had no clue. No clue that her father was going to be assassinated. But... Uncle Quintus is a werewolf now... so it's alright... right?

"No!" wailed Aunt Nida. "No! What if I tell him to go and live with the colonies in the mountains?!"

"He could give away organisation secrets."

"Oh please! He was never a member!"

"He has connections to every member."

That was when the sobbing started. "P-p-please Demetrius! I'll do a-anything! Please let him live!"

"You're making a fool of yourself." said Demetrius, a slight snarl entering her voice.

With the sound of that snarl, Castor knew it would be wise to leave, but he found himself rooted to the spot. He found himself cradling the child that he didn't particularly like, who had now stopped sucking his pendant and was looking around with a pout – a response from hearing her mother wail.

"Demetrius! Surely you must feel something! He's still alive now even though he was bitten in December! Please!"

"You made your choice to abandon him." snapped Father, not really responding to his sister-in-law's statement. "Now get up. You look pathetic, Nida."

There was a scuffling noise. "That doesn't mean I want him dead! Dem-"

"We will provide for you and your child." interrupted Demetrius harshly. "Bear in mind that caring is not an advantage."

"De-"

"Take your child and leave." And suddenly, the door was swung open, revealing a sobbing woman and two irritated looking men.

Immediately, at the sight of her mother, Silvia started wailing. Castor couldn't keep his eyes off his father. He didn't know how to react. He knew his dad had killed people – no half-breeds – but somehow, it was different. Castor knew Uncle Quintus when he was still pure; he was holding his Uncle's bawling baby; he had heard his Uncle's wife begging for mercy.

But if that was what had to be done...

Before his father could say anything, Castor quickly started walking away, down the hall.

"Castor." snapped his father.

He knew better to ignore him... but he ignored him anyway. Castor couldn't talk. It was all he could do to move his legs.

He walked down the grand staircase, still feeling as if he was going to vomit. However, thanks to Castor's rocking, the baby had stopped wailing. Instead, it latched her arms around his neck once more. This time, he didn't pull her off.

And if matters couldn't get any worse, he heard the rush of someone arriving by floo powder from the living room. He huffed – another stupid Antinus-Lupus member to do stupid stuff with his stupid father. He pushed open the door, with the intention to tell the visitor to get lost, but instead saw two people he was not expecting.

Draco and his mother. What?

"What's with the kid?" asked Draco with a slight smirk.

"Shush, Draco." sneered Narcissa. "Castor, I need to see your father immediately."

"He's busy." replied Castor bluntly, still holding Silvia gently.

Narcissa's eyes lay on Silvia. "I see..." she said quietly, as if she knew exactly what was going on.

"HE'S YOUR BROTHER!"

Castor and Draco looked upwards, hearing the yell coming from upstairs. Narcissa merely picked off her gloves jadedly, before leaving the room, presumable to find Castor's father.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Draco, still glancing at the ceiling as if Nida would fall through it at any moment.

"Aunt Nida." Castor replied quickly, before starting to hush Silvia, who had once more started wailing.

"Please shut up." he muttered, before taking a seat and holding her on his lap. He picked up his pendant. "Look, I'll let you eat it."

Silvia immediately grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth.

"You're disgusting." he informed her, before finally turning to Draco, who was still standing by the fireplace.

"You should get a house-elf to do that." commented Draco.

Castor rolled his eyes. "What would an house-elf do with a human baby?"

Draco shrugged, sauntering over to a seat next to Castor, before throwing himself down in it.

"Although we don't dislike your company," Castor said. "Is there a particular reason-"

"They've invaded our manor." spat Draco, resting his pointed chin on his poised hand.

"The Ministry?" questioned Castor, eyebrow raised. "Again? Isn't this is the third time since-"

"Since father's imprisonment, yes, yes." interrupted Draco harshly. He huffed. "They want a few days to do some stupid 'anti-curse' thing on our possessions."

"Are they cursed?"

"No!"

Castor raised an eyebrow. He found that very hard to believe.

* * *

Having lunch with Neville's family was more awkward than Ash thought it would be. In fact, she felt incredibly uneasy as they discussed topics such as O.W.L.s and breeds of fungi, especially under the watchful eye of Neville's Aunt, Uncle and Grandmother.

It was when they started dessert – a fairly awesome birthday cake which must have taken forever to make – that it went from bad to worse. When Ash picked up her knife and fork, Neville's Uncle made a strange noise of surprise.

Ash looked up, eyes wide.

"So you're not really a werewolf!" he cried.

"What?" Ash questioned unsurely, as Enid grumbled, "Algie!"

"That's cutlery's silver!" he cried accusingly, as Neville and his Gran fixed him with a hard stare.

Ash bit her tongue, smiling a humourless smile. "That's just a myth."

"Hmm," Algie grumbled.

"You know, Asteria." said Neville's grandmother quickly before Algie could open his mouth once more. "When I heard about the incident at the ministry, I was so proud of you children."

Ash hesitated. The image of Sirius falling into the veil, followed by the image of Neville writhing in pain, suddenly rushed into her mind. Ash quickly replaced her look of misery with a smile.

"Thank you; it was... um... certainly an experience?"

Mrs Longbottom nodded understandingly. "I think, Neville is finally starting to live up to his father." she said, with a thoughtful frown. Was that meant to be a compliment? Ash glanced sideways at Neville. He was smiling. Ok, so it was a very bad complement.

"Thanks Gran."

"Although, if you break that new wand-"

"I won't Gran," said Neville quickly. "Promise."

"Kids having to do Aurors work," Enid said, shaking her head. "It's a disgrace! And we can barely go outside without seeing a death eater's face plastered on the wall. Even nice little Florean Fortescue was worried was I talked to him the other month! He makes such nice avocado and valerian root ice-cream!"

"He's gone." said Ash quietly, although she was still wondering who the hell would eat avocado ice-cream.

"What do you mean?!" cried Enid, leaning towards Ash over the table.

"I went to Diagon alley two weeks ago." replied Ash. "His shop was boarded up."

Enid held a hand to her chest, shaking her head so that her dyed blond curls bounced around. "How terrible!"

"Bloody Death Eaters!" muttered Algie. "Old Bilius said that now You-Know-Who's out in the open, they're recruiting everybody!"

"Bilius Weasley is not a reliable source," scolded Mrs Longbottom. "And call him Voldemort. Your refusal to speak his name shows than even Neville is braver than you."

Algie pursed his lips. Ash quickly glanced at Neville. She was looking just as unsettled as Ash.

"Don't worry," he mumbled, so only Ash could hear. "They hardly ever get along."

"-and they're going after the werewolf colonies in the hills and sewers! Disgusting half-breeds acting like animals! Now they're going to all join _You-Know-Who_!"

That was the final straw. Maybe it was almost the full moon, or maybe it was because of all the snaky comments, but Ash slammed her cutlery down, noise flaring.

"You know what?" she snarled, an underlying growl in her voice. "It's because of people like you that people like me have to live in poverty and squalor! I managed to get five O.W.L.s, but I know that won't mean anything because of people who are stuck with their old fashioned ignorance and _can't even be arsed_ to try and empathise with a victim of a brutal and traumatic attack!"

Algie opened his mouth to talk, but Ash was too fast.

"No, I'm not done!" she cried, voice getting stronger. However, she could feel herself slipping, very close to bursting into tears. "If you think that every single man, woman or child who had their '_pure' _status ripped from them by monsters like Greyback, are going to become just like him, then you really must be a cowardly, ignorant idiot."

The room was silent. Ash couldn't bear to meet anyone's eyes, especially as tears were starting to build up in hers. She had just shouted at Neville's uncle, and probably ruined his birthday. She stood up.

"I really should be going." she said, trying to keep her voice even. "Thank you for lunch, Mrs Longbottom, it was really great."

As Ash left the room, she heard a chair screech. "Thanks." snapped Neville, striding after his friend.

"Well, I hope you're happy!" snapped Augusta Longbottom at her brother-in-law.

As Ash reached the living room in which the fireplace stood, Neville caught her hand.

"Ash, I'm so, so sorry! If I'd-"

"Neville," interrupted Ash, pulling her hand away as several tears managed to slip down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I ruined your birthday."

Neville stared at her incredulously. "Are you mad?! How on earth was that your fault?"

Ash just shook her head, quickly wiping her eyes. "He's not wrong. Look Neville-"

Suddenly he kissed her. Ash immediately pulled away. That was _definitely_ not something 'just friends do.

"I need to go." insisted Ash, stepping away quickly.

Neville started to panic, regretting his actions immediately. "Wait, Ash, I'm sorry-"

"No its fine." said Ash, although she had already pulled the small bag of floo powder from her pocket and tears were still running down her face. "Let's just pretend this never happened."

She didn't give Neville time to reply. The last thing she saw before arriving back at the Burrow was his downcast, pained expression.

* * *

_**A/N: Hey guys, I know it's been a while. I've still got a few exams to finish up, but I'll definitely update more often after this. Also, I did tweak the last few chapters of watched and the first two chapters of this fic. Neville and Ash did not officially get back together after her suspension. I was editing grammar and re-read the chapter and found it kinda unrealistic considering her situation. I do not know for certain if they will ever get back together, or at least not for a while. **_

_**Also, did you guys enjoy the Castor segment? Castor is going to be a big part of this fic and I've got a lot of interesting (and maybe kinda surprising) stuff planned out for him. **_

_**Please comment if you enjoyed, or if you hated it! Thanks a lot guys!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**The Hunter or the Hunted**

_Chapter 4_

* * *

Appearing in the Weasley home, still sobbing, probably wasn't a good idea for somebody who just wanted to be alone.

When Ash stumbled through the fireplace, she was met with the sight of Ginny and Hermione chatting on the sofa. They looked up, surprised.

"We didn't expect you back till-"

"Ash, what's wrong?"

Ash just shook her head, before walking off. She didn't want to talk. She rushed up the stairs, into her temporary bedroom. She closed the door and Ash immediately sat on the corner of her bed, running her hands through her hair. What the hell? Why the hell? Just stop crying. Just stop. There's no point.

The door edged open several moments later, with Hermione peering anxiously round the door.

"Um, Ash?"

"Hm?" she mumbled, not lifting her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Ash shook her head, but Hermione didn't turn away. Instead, she edged into the room, tentatively taking a seat beside her dorm mate.

Ash glanced at her, trying her best not to glare at Hermione through her fingers. She was wringing her hands nervously, obviously feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"What is it?" sighed Ash, finally pulling her head from her hands.

"I just... I wanted to know if you were ok." she said in a small voice.

Ash forced a small smile. "I'm fine, really."

"You say that, but you don't mean it. I can tell. Harry does the same thing."

Ash frowned slightly. "Look, I don't want to... I can't... Just..."

"You and Neville, y'know, you're really-"

"We're not together." interrupted Ash harshly, earning a slightly alarmed look from Hermione.

"Sorry, I just..."

Ash shook her head. She must be crazy for talking to Hermione about this... "His uncle is a foul, foul man. Or maybe it's just werewolves that brings it out of him."

"He was nasty to you?" questioned Hermione with a frown.

Ash laughed a humourless laugh. "Yeah, kinda. I ended up yelling at him over lunch and storming off. Then Neville... well... let's just say we didn't part well."

"He agreed with his uncle?!" cried Hermione, sitting up straight, hair practically pulsating.

"No!" replied Ash quickly, causing Hermione to sigh in relief. "He kind of... God, I can't believe I'm telling you this... But, He kissed me before I left."

Hermione frowned, brow furrowed. "And that's bad beca-"

"Because we're not a couple! And he just doesn't get it!" Ash cried, flopping backwards onto the bed.

"Look, Ash." sighed Hermione, looking down at her. "I really do think that this guilt complex of yours is very damaging. I mean-"

"Hermione, I've thought about it a lot, ok?" said Ash, flopping her arms over her eyes. "The disadvantages outweigh the advantages. And I don't think I like it. It makes me sad and it probably makes Neville sad. It's stupid really. I don't think I can, or want to, do it anymore."

Hermione flopped backwards on the bed, so she was lying beside Ash. Ash removed her arms from over her face and turned to look at Hermione, nudging a few of her bushy locks away so she could see her face.

"Maybe I'll find him another girlfriend." mumbled Ash.

Hermione sighed glumly, staring at Ash for several moments. Eventually, she shook her head and looked up at the ceiling, a slight smile on her lips. "I heard Hannah Abbott has a bit of a thing for him."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Hufflepuff? Blond? Hangs around with Ernie?"

"That's her."

"Hm." Ash turned to stare at the ceiling. "She's very pretty." she mumbled.

"Are you jealous?" questioned Hermione, turning her head to examine her friends expression carefully.

Ash turned her head back to Hermione for a moment, before looking back up at the ceiling. "No," she replied quietly. "Not at all."

* * *

The full moon was rough on Ash. Waking up in the Weasley's small barn, curled up in a heap of torn blankets, is not pleasant. Ash fumbled to her knees, unable to stand, and shuffled over to the box in the corner of the room. She pulled out the baggy clothes and managed to get herself dressed. She pulled her half-moon pendent from her jumper pocket and placed it around her neck, before finally stumbling to her feet. She tried to push open the door, before remembering that it was locked. Ash sighed. She slowly bent her knees, wincing, eventually managing to sit on the floor. She had to wait for Mrs Weasley. She let out a deep, hoarse sigh, leaning against the wall.

Ash hated this. But then again, who the hell would enjoy it? Monsters like Greyback probably. Erg. She closed her eyes, feeling a wave of queasiness flow over her.

Suddenly, she heard a door open. Ah. Mrs Weasley's up. Werewolf hearing – one of the perks of lycanthropy. A couple of minutes later, the doors to the barn opened, revealing someone who she had not been expecting.

"Fleur?"

"Oh Asteria, you look 'orrible!" cried Fleur.

Ash forced herself to her feet, stumbling slightly. She forced a small smile at Fleur, before she started to lead Ash back up to the house.

"It is awful zat you 'ave to do zis every month!" cried Fleur, pulling her blouse closer around her slim shoulders as she walked.

Ash smiled weakly. "It's not so bad. You get used to it." she lied.

A frown stretched across Fleur's stunning features, reaching out to rub Ash's back comfortingly with a slim hand. Ash smiled. Sure, Fleur was blunt, arrogant and outspoken, but she wasn't that bad. Bill must have fallen in love with her for a reason.

Ash and Fleur entered the Weasley kitchen to see Bill and Mrs Weasley sitting at the table.

"Moring Ash." greeted Bill as Fleur rushed over to kiss him.

Mrs Weasley quickly glanced away, a grim expression on her face. She turned her attention on the young werewolf to distract herself from the young couple. She pulled Ash in to a hug, insisting quickly that she should take a seat, before bustling over to make her a cup of hot chocolate.

Hot chocolate now in hand, Ash did her best to ignore the couple's doting, cutesy behaviour. However, that was slightly difficult when Fleur decided to perch herself on Bill's lap, twirling his ponytail through her fingers.

Luckily, a distraction presented itself several minutes later, coming in the form of a weak knock at the door.

Everyone in the room froze. The knocking continued and Bill slowly stood up, drawing his wand.

"Who's there?" cried Mrs Weasley nervously, going to the door.

"Is she here?" There was a heaving gasp of agony from the other side of the door. "Asteria..."

Ash got to her feet as fast as she could, heart hammering. Bill drew his wand, approaching the door quickly as Fleur stood trembling, hands held over her heart. Ash's hand immediately went to the chain around her neck. The pendant wasn't glowing.

"It's not Demetrius." mumbled Ash, limping to the door. "It sounds like he needs help."

Bill quickly held out his arm, stopping Ash in her tracks. "We don't know who he is."

He took the door handle in one hand, and pointed his wand to the door in the other.

"State your name." Bill demanded forcefully.

"Quintus." gasped the voice. "Quintus Alexander."

Ash's eyes widened. Demetrius' werewolf brother! Bill must have recognised the surname, as he threw open the door, starting to yell a hex.

"Wait!" Ash yelled out, throwing herself forward to knock Bill aside. Bill stumbled back, crying out as he hit the cabinet. Fleur cried out for Bill as Mrs Weasley leapt forward to help her child.

Asteria, on the other hand, went to the man who had fallen to his knees outside the door, in an attempt to avoid the spell. His clothes were tattered and he was still weak from the full moon. Why had he travelled here of all places? Ash hardly recognised the man from who she'd seen at St Mungo's on Christmas day. He had long, cuts running down his face – too new to have had chance to scar. He was frail and shaking, incredibly pale. He was a dead man walking.

"What the hell, Ash?" bellowed Bill, lunging forward to push her away from Quintus.

"Don't hurt him!" yelled Ash as Bill grabbed Quintus by the collar. "He's a werewolf!"

Bill stared at Ash as if she'd lost her mind. "He's an Alexander. He's Antin-"

"No, he's not!" insisted Ash as she got to her feet. "He was in your father's hospital wing at Christmas. He was bitten and abandoned."

"Well," said Quintus hoarsely, eyes on Bill anxiously. "I'm glad you remember me."

"How could I forget?" mumbled Ash, as Bill unhanded her Uncle. "First time I met your brother, he said he was going to kill you. Frankly, I'm surprised you're still alive."

"Charming."

"What the bloody hell is going on?!"

Ron had arrived, clutching a bemused looking kitten, along with Harry and the girls.

Everyone looked to Ash.

"This is my werewolf uncle who I thought had been murdered by my dad." she said bluntly, pointing at the man.

They stared at her, before Ron finally announced; "It's too early for this shit."

"Ronald!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Quintus and Asteria were sitting in the arm chairs in the living room, sipping tea. Quintus hadn't said much, but now that they were alone...

"You're quite popular in the werewolf community." Quintus said quietly, moving his cup from his lips. "They talk of you in Pubs, shops. You're in the newspaper often enough. There are people who use you as some sort of 'poster child.' It's ridiculous really..."

Ash raised an eyebrow. She had no clue how to feel about it. "What? Really? Where?"

"Easy with the questions," muttered her uncle. "I found sanctuary in a small town up north, at the bottom of a mountain. People get talking."

"And they didn't find you there?" asked Ash curiously, frowning. "Antinus-Lupus, I mean."

"There are charms." he informed her. "Only werewolves and a select few wizards can get through. But it's not very well known. I found it by accident."

"What's it like?" Ash questioned, putting down her tea and leaning forward, with new found curiosity.

"Poor." said Quintus bluntly.

Ash rolled her eyes. These pure-bloods, man.

"I meant, are they against Voldemort?"

Quintus jolted in surprise, tea nearly sloshing from his cup. "Merlin, kid. Don't say the name!"

Ash rolled her eyes once more.

"Some werewolves are, some aren't." he replied, once he'd calmed himself down. "In the mountains and underground they mainly support him, but less so in the sanctuary."

"Why?"

"It's funded by good wizards, half-blood supporters." he answered. "But the ones outside don't like wizarding help. They're mostly led by Greyback."

It was Asteria's turn to jolt. "He's influential then?" she questioned in a squeak.

Quintus raised an eyebrow. "He was the one who turned you then?" he questioned.

She nodded quickly.

"I'm sorry." he said genuinely. He paused for several moments, thinking. "But yes. Some truly support Greyback, but most are just not stupid enough to oppose him. They want a better life, and to be honest, I don't blame them. Many are neutral."

Ash frowned. "I see..."

They were silent for several moments, while Asteria thought. Most of this was stuff she already knew, or she had suspected, but hearing it from someone with first-hand experience was different.

"But, if you're safe up there, why leave?" asked Ash, frowning slightly. "Why did you come here? It's not like we really know each other."

"I only found out you were my niece several weeks ago." said Quintus with a slight smile. "Sure, I thought the strange young woman at St Mungos looked a lot like my brother and nephew, but I had other things on my mind."

Ash grinned with a slight chuckle.

"One of the benefactors of the sanctuary keeps in contact with one of the 'Lupus members." Quintus said. "I'm their most recent target."

"Recent?"

"Announced yesterday morning in fact." supplied Quintus. "There was talk that if Demetrius sent someone to kill his brother, you would be next. They were going to send a group, but I volunteered. I told them I had already met you – plus sending a whole group of werewolves off on a full moon is a stupid idea."

"But as you're a family member-"

"Telling them who I really am is crazy." he interrupted. "Although I was never a member of 'Lupus, it looks bad. They know me as Q."

"Isn't that a little suspicious?" questioned Ash sceptically, mind automatically going to the tech-guy from James Bond.

Quintus shrugged. "People know to keep out of the past there. For some... it's just too horrific to relive."

Ash stared at her Uncle, letting his words sink in. There were people out there who had it so much worse than she did. She felt almost guilty for the way she had been acting. Ash let out a low sigh, before deciding to change the subject. "Castor may be moving to Hogwarts."

"Well that's going to be interesting." commented Quintus. "But if it's any comfort, he's not like his father. It's unlikely that he'll kill you in your sleep."

"Thanks... I think."

Quintus didn't say anything for a while. He watched Asteria carefully as she picked up her tea and took a sip. Asteria frowned slightly. Would Demetrius – her own father – really kill her? Or get his son to do so? But there was all that rubbish about taking her mother's place as 'Little Red'. It was sickening.

"You know, I was surprised to find out that you've been alive all these years." he said eventually.

"What do you mean?" asked Ash, brow furrowed.

"You don't know..." Quintus paused, frowning, as if he had said something wrong. "I'm not sure I should..."

"Just tell me." insisted Ash quickly.

"Well, Demetrius and I were never exactly close. When I didn't see you after the incident and the department of mysteries, I assumed the worst."

Ash stared at him blankly. "What incident?" she demanded, perhaps a little louder than she meant to. Quintus' eyes widened in surprise.

"I'm sorry." Ash apologised quickly. "But when I was there in June-"

"You saw it all?"

"What?" questioned Ash, confused. "No there was this door, which I was really drawn to, and the-"

"Did you go through the door?" interrupted Quintus quickly, putting down his tea cup.

"Well, no, but-"

"Listen to me, Asteria." he said, suddenly very serious. "Never go through that door, even if you have the chance. Never go through."

"Why?"

"Do you understand?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"I need to leave." said Quintus, standing abruptly. "Thank Mrs Weasley for the tea, for me."

Ash jumped up. "Wait-"

"Antinus-Lupus may be on my tail."

"Is it to do with me seeing inside Castor's head?!"

Quintus halted, staring at Asteria in horror. "You mean you can talk to each other by thinking?"

"No, I mean, I pass out and he can see in my head, then he passes out and I can see in his. Or vice versa." said Ash, eying Quintus suspiciously. "Do you mean somebody planned this... this... switching brain thing?!"

"I don't really know enough about it." mumbled Quintus hurriedly. "It wasn't meant to turn out like that." He started mumbling incoherently, said things like; 'it worker better,' and 'or is it worse,' and 'oh sweet Merlin.'

He looked up suddenly. "Just... try not to think about it too much."

"That's going to be a little hard after what you just told me!" retorted Ash. "Or more like, didn't tell me!"

"I need to leave. I've overstayed my welcome." Quintus noted quietly. He was glancing to the door, by which Harry, Hermione and Ron were loitering, trying to look inconspicuous.

Ash rolled her eyes at the overly curious trio. "Why can't you just tell-"

"No, no," muttered Quintus. He started walking away hurriedly. "Not enough time. They'll be expecting me back. Try and stay out of trouble. Some of us may try and make contact..."

At this point, Quintus had left the living room and was striding through the kitchen. Mrs Weasley, Bill and Fleur were still sitting at the table.

"Thank you for your hospitality." he said, bowing stiffly before Mrs Weasley.

She seemed caught off guard. "Um, y-yes, thank you..."

But Quintus had already turned back to Asteria. "Don't die."

Ash folded her arms with a frown. "Easier said than done." she replied sarcastically.

Quintus stared at her for several moments. He opened his mouth, as if to say something. Apparently he thought better of it, as he just turned, opened the door, then left.

The room was silent. So many more questions, thought Ash furiously. Then, she decided to run after him, charging out the door.

But before she could reach him, he disappeared. Disaperated. Ash let out a growl of frustration. Why couldn't anyone just give it to her straight? She thought bitterly as she stalked back up to the house. They must all have some sort of twisted 'drama queen syndrome.'

* * *

_**A/N: Hi guys! Thank you for reading! I've just got back from my holidays and I official finished my exams several weeks ago - I know just have to wait for the results! Ah! Anyway, thanks to everyone for being so patient and leaving such lovely reviews! If you have anything to say or a suggestion for the story, please do leave a review, because I'm feeling a little overwhelmed! Thanks again!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**The Hunter or the Hunted**

_Chapter 5_

* * *

"There have been another couple of dementor attacks," Remus informed the party at Harry's birthday dinner. "And they've found Igor Karkaroff's body in a shack up north. The Dark Mark had been set over it – well, frankly, I'm surprised he stayed alive for even a year after deserting the Death Eaters; Sirius's brother, Regulus, only managed a few days as far as I can remember."

Mrs Weasley frowned disapprovingly as she passed him a large slice of birthday cake. "Yes, well, perhaps we should talk about something diff-"

"Did you hear about Florean Fortescue, Remus?" asked Bill, who was being plied with wine by Fleur. "The man who ran-"

"-the ice-cream place in Diagon Alley?" Harry interrupted. "He used to give me free ice creams. What's happened to him?"

"He's gone. His shops abandoned and boarded up." inputted Ash.

"Why?" asked Ron, while Mrs. Weasley pointedly glared at Bill.

"Who knows? He must've upset them somehow. He was a good man, Florean." commented Bill.

"Talking of Diagon Alley," said Mr. Weasley, "looks like Ollivander's gone too."

"The wandmaker?" said Ginny, looking startled.

"That's the one. Shop's empty. No sign of a struggle. No one knows whether he left voluntarily or was kidnapped."

"But wands — what'll people do for wands?"

"They'll make do with other makers," said Lupin. "But Ollivander was the best, and if the other side have got him it's not so good for us."

"Yes, I think that's enough unpleasantries for today." said Mrs Weasley firmly, eyes dating quickly to and from Ash automatically, without thinking.

Ash rolled her eyes. "I didn't invite hi-"

"Oh, no, of course not, dear." interrupted Mrs Weasley quickly, giving her a slice of cake. "But it would have been nice for him to send a note... or at least knock properly."

"I think that may be a bit much to ask from an Alexander." replied Ash apologetically.

"An Alexander?" questioned Remus, frown etching his features.

"Yeah, my uncle came to tell me that I could die."

"Oh, Asteria!" cried Mrs Weasley, hand on her heart. "Please!"

"Sorry." mumbled Ash. "There just doesn't seem like much point in beating around the bush these days."

"She's not wrong. People are disappearing every day." added Bill, causing his mother to glare at him.

"We're all going to be fine." Mrs Weasley said, voice firm but shaky at the same time.

Luckily, Mr Weasley chimed in and managed to change the conversation. But that didn't stop Remus pulling Ash outside, later in the evening to question her on what happened.

"He mentioned a town up north, at the base of mountain." Ash informed him, after Remus finished lecturing her about trusting Quintus. "It's run by wizards."

Remus frowned, pulling his cloak closer around his frame to protect himself from the night time breeze. "I've heard rumours of such places, but I never found one myself."

Ash frowned. "He mentioned that anti-wizard werewolves lived further up the mountain."

Remus just shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't know. But if I hear anything in the next few months underground-"

"Underground?!" exclaimed Ash. "Why? I thought-"

"Order business."

Ash's mouth formed an 'o' shape. "Oh. I see. Are you sure that's safe... with Greyback, I mean."

"No order business is safe."

"Touché." mumbled Ash, folding her arms. "So... gaining support?"

"That, or making sure they stay neutral."

"How easy d'you reckon that'll be?"

"Not very," Remus sighed. "Wizards haven't exactly been very supportive of werewolf rights the last few years... or ever, to be honest."

"Yeah, I know." mumbled Ash, rubbing her upper arms absentmindedly

Remus smiled sadly down at her. "You're going to be ok, you know."

"You shouldn't lie." muttered Ash.

Remus laid a hand on her shoulder, and looked down into her pale eyes. "You're going to be ok. Besides," he added with a mischievous smile. "You're scaring Molly."

The corner of Ash's lips quirked upwards. "Yeah, sure. I'll be so perky tomorrow I'll put Tonks to shame."

His smile faltered almost instantly.

Ash instantly felt horrible. "Hey, err, about Tonks, have you, err, seen her lately?"

"No." he replied quietly. "But we were never exactly close-"

"Liar." Ash interrupted, a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Asteria, I don't know what you've hear-"

"It's not what I heard." Ash replied, folding her arms. "I'm just not blind."

Remus sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Asteria, you know better than any-"

"I wasn't going to try and change your mind." she intervened quickly, averting her eyes from his. "It's just... you should be happy."

"And you shouldn't?"

Ash met his eye hesitantly. "How'd you know about yesterday?"

"Hermione was talking to Mrs Weasley about it." sighed Remus.

Ash didn't really want to think about her visit to the Longbottom household. She felt her throat start to thicken and found it harder to breathe.

"That completely different." said Ash, voice thick. "It's just a stupid teenage relationship. You actually deserve it."

"And what makes me so worthy?" he asked in a humourless voice. "To ruin someone else's life with this curse?"

"Because you're a good person." replied Ash loudly as if she thought speaking louder would convince Lupin that he was worthy of Tonks. "And I'm just... here – bothering everyone."

"You're not bo-"

"Don't lie."

"I'm not." Remus replied firmly.

Ash could resist rolling her eyes as silence filled the air. The sky had long gone a dark, navy blue and all Ash could hear was a pair of gnomes having an argument, but that was probably miles away.

"Why do I feel as I've accidentally adopted a petulant child?" questioned Remus with a sigh, staring up at the velvet sky.

For several moments, Ash was silent while she thought.

"Well, Tonks fusses over my clothes so much that she's practically my mother." commented Ash. "So to me, you're practically married already. And you could adopt Harry too while you're at it."

For a second, Ash thought Remus was going to storm off, but then his expression turned. He laughed, a great, rich, almost bark like laugh. He shook his head, eyes glittering with mirth.

"I don't understand at all." he mumbled once he'd calmed down. "I don't understand why you hold yourself so much lower than everyone else; I don't understand why you're so blunt and I don't understand why you're so fixed on me becoming a parent."

"You'd be a good parent." mumbled Ash absentmindedly. "But then again, mine are murderers, so I suppose anyone would be better than that."

"Well, thank you for the twisted complement."

"You're very welcome."

* * *

Castor was furious.

He was so angry, that he wasn't even sure what he was most angry about, and Draco Malfoy really wasn't helping.

"If you're going to continue breaking your valuables, I would break that vase." drawled Draco, sprawling out on the chaise longue in Castor's bedroom. "It's ghastly."

His cold grey eyes darted from Castor to the growing piles of shattered ornaments on the floor.

Draco got up and sauntered over to Castor, who was leaning his forehead against his bed post with his eyes closed, obviously trying to calm himself down. He stooped down, picking up the decapitated head of a glass wolf.

"Your father's fascination with wolves is somewhat disturbing considering his favourite hobby." commented Draco.

Castor's eyes snapped open. He grabbed the head from Draco and threw it against the wall as hard as he could. It shattered, scattering hundreds of glittering shards over the floor. Castor hissed, realising that he had cut his hand in his haze of anger. He scrunched up his hands in anger.

"Because he's a sick bastard, that's why." snarled Castor. "How did you even get in here, Draco?"

Draco ignored the question, feeling as if it was obvious that he had come through the young man's fireplace. "Not that I really care, but I feel this conversation will be over a lot sooner if I asked what sparked your raging session."

Castor glared at his companion. "He never tells me anything straight, and then I'm left to find out everything later on."

Draco quirked a platinum blond eyebrow.

"He arranged the attack on my mother."

"I thought she died on 'Lupus business."

"Technically yes." he snapped. "But after a chat with that freak Kono, I found out that he sent the squib out on a full moon. How stupid –"(Castor punctuated every word with a punch to his bedpost) "selfish – evil – "

He let his hands fall to his side, breathing heavily. He rounded on Draco, eyes blazing. "How do I know that he hasn't done this before?"

"You don't." suggested Draco, shrugging. "I don't understand why you're so worked up. Didn't he do the same thing to your uncle two weeks ago?"

Castor's mind reeled, trying to think of all those who'd walked out his life suddenly. His memory was hazy and confused before the age of eight, but he could think of a few. That old woman who knew mum... that man who worked with dad... that butler and maid they had before the house elf... the gardener... Felicity. Felicity – that nanny he had for ten years who was more like his mother than his own.

Castor started to shake with anger. He wondered briefly whether his sister was treated like this.

That was another lie – the fact he had a sister – the fact that they could see into each other's minds... and the fact that she was a werewolf.

Asteria had barely been in his life and yet Castor knew, deep down, that father would be the one to sign her execution papers – like he had done so with Uncle Quintus.

But why did he care about her so _fricking_ much? He didn't care about anyone! No... the fact that he was so livid was because he cared too much.

"You know," drawled Draco. "I did come over here for a reason."

"Oh, prey tell." snarled Castor.

"Mother wants to take me robe shopping tomorrow. You need robes too and I need help with... something." Draco said slowly, obviously choosing his words carefully.

Castor quickly turned his head to look at his friend, eyes wide. "Something?" he questioned suspiciously, eyes darting to Draco's wrist.

Draco noticed his looks and stumbled backwards. "How do you know about that?" he demanded darkly, eyes narrowing.

"I'm not stupid." muttered Castor. "It's the way you said it."

"I was chosen." he snapped defensively, starting to tug at his left sleeve. "The Dark Lord chose me. It's not like it's any different from your Lupus-thing."

Castor raised an eyebrow, surprised by Draco's overly defensive reaction. "Did I say it was? Show me."

Draco narrowed his eyes at him, but decided to hold out his arm. The dark mark shone black and bold against Draco's pale flesh. Castor couldn't help but stare. Of course, after Malfoy Senior was carted off to Azkaban, getting Malfoy Junior to take his place was the next logical step... But Draco didn't seem like the type to be Voldemort's first choice.

"So you'll help me?"

Castor thought for a moment. He didn't like the idea of becoming some sort of lackey. "I'm not becoming a death eater." he said slowly, reaching for his Antinus-Lupus pendant and running the chain through his slim fingers. "You know we don't like to get mixed up in that sort of thing. Besides... I have higher ambitions."

"Is that a yes or no?" Draco questioned, trying not to look to too eager. "I could easily get Crabbe or Goyle to help... but they lack the... subtlety."

Finally, Castor nodded. "But you'll owe me a favour."

"You have a deal."

* * *

The arrival of the school booklists meant that a 'family' trip to Diagon Alley was due.

It surprised Ash how much the atmosphere had worsened in the last month, since she had last been there. Of course, it was pretty awful before, but now...

Even more shops had closed, with huge Ministry of Magic posters – either giving security advice or showing which Death Eaters were on the loose – plastered in the place of the glittering displays. Several shabby stalls had now spung up, all along the street.

Ash's eyes lay on one outside Flourish and Blotts, baring a cardboard sign reading; _AMULETS: Effective Against Werewolves, Dementors and Inferi_

The seedy-looking little wizard was rattling armfuls of silver symbols on chains at passersby, and Ash couldn't resist rolling her eyes.

"What an idiot." Ash snarled. None of those would work against a werewolf, who knows if they'd help anyone against dementors or inferi.

"One for your little girl, madam?" he called at Mrs. Weasley as they passed, leering at Ginny. "Protect her pretty neck?"

"Oh yeah, Ginny, you look so yummy today." said Ash sarcastically, grabbing the younger girls shoulders. "I'm sure a stupid bit of silver would do all the difference at keeping me away."

Ginny, Harry and Ron started sniggering and Mrs Weasley wasn't sure who to glare at.

"Werewolf!" cried the little wizard, starting to throw his amulets at the young half-breed. "Be gone evil spirit."

Ash blinked at him as little amulets started bouncing off her jacket and jeans, making pathetic little _tink_-ing noises as they fell to the cobbled floor.

"Oh yeah, very effective."

That was when the wizard decided to crouch behind his box, hands over his head, yelling stuff like, "I have a family!" and "How dare you threaten me!"

"Now really." grumbled Mr Weasley, "Come on, quickly." he added, hurrying the kids past the little wizard as he started yelling offensive slurs – some of which Ash had never even heard before.

Once they were a little further down the street, away from the people who were starting to stare anxiously at Ash, Mrs Weasley started nervously consulting her shopping list. "I think we'd better do Madam Malkin's first, Hermione wants new dress robes, and Ron's showing much too much ankle in his school robes, and you must need new ones too, Harry, you've grown so much – come on, everyone –"

"Molly, it doesn't make sense for all of us to go to Madam Malkin's," said Mr Weasley. "Why don't those three go with Hagrid, and we can go to Flourish and Blotts and get everyone's school-books?"

"I don't know," said Mrs Weasley anxiously. "Hagrid, do you think-?"

"Don' fret, they'll be fine with me, Molly," said Hagrid soothingly, waving an airy hand the size of a dustbin lid. Mrs Weasley did not look entirely convinced, but allowed Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid to set off for Madam Malkin's, leaving herself, her husband, Ginny and Ash to go off to the book store.

* * *

They reunited later, once Ash and the three Weasleys were holding several large packages of books. Hermione, Harry and Ron each looked rather uncomfortable.

"Everyone all right?" asked Mrs Weasley hectically. "Got your robes? Right then, we can pop in at the Apothecary and Eeylops on the way to Fred and George's – stick close, now..."

Once in the Apothecary, while Ash was searching for her ingredients, Harry started talking to her in a low voice.

"Malfoy was in Malkins." he informed her.

Ash started to examine a small bottle of infusion of wormwood. "Well, I suppose spawns of Satan need clothes too." she replied dully, putting the wormwood in her basket before turning to look at a vial of wolfsbane.

"Your brother was with him."

Ash stared at him, tearing her eyes from the wolfsbane.

"You sure?" she asked in a low voice. "How do you know?"

"Well, he looks like you."

Ash rolled her eyes, turning back to the wolfsbane. "Yes, yes, you smartarse." she muttered. "Just as long as he didn't threaten you lot, we'll be fine."

"I think he's a death eater."

"He's not." Ash replied, so quickly that she surprised herself.

"You seem very certain." replied Harry. "Why are you buying potions ingredients?"

"For making potions." she replied bluntly. "And yes, I'm certain. They're not deatheaters, they don't care about muggleborns and that."

"He could always branch out." reasoned Harry. "Why are you making potions?"

"No. He wants to be a top dog, not a follower. He said he wanted to be like Grindelwald." Ash replied, scanning the rows of bottles. "He's probably just helping Malfoy out or something. And, if you must know, I'm keeping up potions as a hobby."

"I can see Malfoy being a deat- wait, what? A hobby?!"

Ash turned to give him a withering look, before turning back to the beetle eyes. "Yes. I got an E – it was my highest mark actually."

"You got an E?" questioned Harry in disbelief. "In potions."

"I was ok at Chemistry at Muggle School and I did a lot of cooking at one point. It's not that different." replied Ash absentmindedly, scooping a small portion of beetle eyes into a little bag. "Anyway, I need to make my own wolfsbane potion so I don't have to rely on Snape. I thought I'd get the stuff for N.E.W.T. level and read it though. I'm only taking three subjects after all."

"Hm." mumbled Harry. "I think you're mental. I hate potions."

Ash grinned. "Goof."

* * *

"- and I just hope you know how dangerous that was."

Ash was leaning against a wall in Weasley Wizard Wheezes, getting a lecture from the shop's personal accountant, also known as Max Knight. She'd left the shop on a rather err... unpleasant note. In fact, she left the shop, charging after her twin brother.

"Look, I'm fine." sighed Ash.

"Not unless Lupin had come along! You'd have been beaten to a pulp by Goyle."

"How'd you know about that?!"

"We Weasleys do communicate, you know." chimed in George, coming round the corner of products, ginger hair clashing with his magenta work robes. "But I do have to congratulate you on busting Malfoy's nose in."

Ash grinned brightly at George while Max glared him.

"Look," said Ash, slapping a hand on her half-brother's shoulder. "You should be happy that I'm here. There was some bloke outside 'Blotts throwing silver amulets at me."

"I hate that guy." grumbled Max as George laughed merrily.

"Putting that aside, how'd Neville's Birthday go?"

Ash's smile fell immediately, hand drooping from Max's shoulder. "Er, yeah, not well." she replied, averting her eyes. "Having amulets thrown at me was less painful."

"Do I need to write a strongly worded letter?" said Max seriously.

Ash did her best – she really did – to stop herself from laughing. But she couldn't help it. Within seconds, she was laughing so much that she had buckled over. George wasn't in a much better state.

"Oh, Max, I know you try," gasped Ash as she fought back giggles. "But please, focus on writing strongly worded letters to your own exes. Besides, it wasn't really Neville's fault."

Max smiled, patted his sister on the shoulder, before wandering off into the crowds.

"C'mon." George said, placing a hand on Ash's back. "I'll show you whatever Fred and Hermione are gawking at."

Ash looked ahead warily. George was leading her to the display of violently pink products, around which a cluster of excited girls was giggling enthusiastically.

"There you go," Ash heard Fred say proudly. "Best range of love potions you'll find anywhere."

Ginny raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Do they work?" she asked.

"Certainly they work, for up to twenty-four hours at a time depending on the weight of the boy in question-"

"-and the attractiveness of the girl," said George with Ash, who was peering apprehensively at the bottles, at his side. "But we're not selling them to our sister," he added, becoming suddenly stern, "not when she's already got about five boys on the go from what we've-"

"Whatever you've heard from Ron is a big fat lie," said Ginny calmly, causing Ash to let out a snort of laughter, "What's this?" Ginny asked leaning forward to take a small pink pot off the shelf.

"Guaranteed ten-second pimple vanisher," said Fred. "Excellent on everything from boils to blackheads, but don't change the subject. Are you or are you not currently going out with a boy called Dean Thomas?"

"Yes, I am," said Ginny. "And last time I looked, he was definitely one boy, not five. What are those?"

She was pointing at a number of round balls of fluff in shades of pink and purple, all rolling around the bottom of a cage and emitting high-pitched squeaks.

"Pygmy Puffs," explained George. "Miniature puffskeins, we can't breed them fast enough. So what about Michael Corner?"

"I dumped him, he was a bad loser," said Ginny, putting a finger through the bars of the cage and watching the Pygmy Puffs crowd around it. "They're really cute!"

"Creepy cute." added Ash, frowning at the creatures who reminded her slightly of animate, coloured, dust bunnnies.

"They're fairly cuddly, yes," conceded Fred. "But you're moving through boyfriends a bit fast, aren't you?"

That was when Ash felt something move around her neck. Her pendant. After making sure the others were distracted, Ash allowed herself to slip away. Through the window, she saw two blond teenage boys hurrying up the street. Draco and Castor.

What Harry had told Ash made her suspicious. She wanted to know what they were up to... so badly. And, on top of that, she wanted to make sure Castor didn't become a death eater. Ash wasn't sure why she cared. She shouldn't... she barely knew him... but he was her brother... who could see inside her mind. That could be used for notorious purposes, she reasoned.

So in Ash's mind it was settled. She made sure once more that no-one was looking, before slipping across the shop, through the crowd, and out of the front door.

Ash tried to move slowly, head down, so not to attract attention. She made sure that she was far enough behind them to make sure that the vibration and glow of Castor's pendant was unnoticeable. She followed them past several shops as they remained oblivious to her whereabouts. Then, they stopped, and turned. Ash quickly slipped inside a gap between two closed shops, where they kept their bins. Once they were satisfied, they turned left. Ash frowned – what was down there?

Ash made to follow them, but then a hand grabbed her upper arms. Ash let out a sharp gasp of surprise and whirled around.

"What are you doing?" George was holding onto her arm tightly, as if he was afraid she'd slip out of his grip.

"I... I..." Ash couldn't think of what to say. "I, er, was just-"

"Wondering off for no good reason?" George snapped.

George was never like this. He never was really... angry... The last time Ash saw him like this... well, she didn't want to remember that day... when she hurt their mother – inadvertently of course.

"George, I-"

"What is wrong with you?" he growled, voice low. "It was bad enough when you came out on your own last time, but things are getting worse and worse by the day. I know we were making light of it earlier, but that does not mean you can just-"

"George-"

"No. Listen to me. Down there-" He pointed with his free hand. "-is _Knockturn Alley_. That's where all the evil wizards go. You could have been killed."

"You're being a overdramatic hypocrite." Ash snapped back, trying to pull her arm away from him. "And can you let go? I need to-"

"What? What do you need to do?!"

"My brother just went in there; Castor, y'know-"

"You know what, I don't care." George pointed out angrily. He threw up his arm, pointing back towards his shop. "Up there, double checking the books like a madman. That's the brother I care about. That's the brother you should care about. Not some slick git from Durmstrang who's buddy-buddy with Malfoy."

Ash didn't know what to say.

"You know, people care about you. Not just Max, but Mum, Dad, Lupin, Tonks, Harry, Ginny, Hermione-"

"I'm not trying to hurt anyone!" cried Ash.

"Well you are!"

Ash felt her eyes start to water and heat rush to her face unpleasantly.

"Well then you tell me what I'm meant to do!" Ash said in a low, dangerous voice. "Because when I'm just hanging around, I'm annoying everyone and I feel guilty, and when I'm trying to help, I'm worrying people! Everyone would just be better off without me. I'd save everyone else the trouble and go and get myself killed."

"Don't turn this arou-"

"I don't understand why you people forgot that I'm a monster!"

"Because it doesn't matter!" yelled George, completely losing his temper. He threw his hands up in the air, finally letting go of Ash's arm. "Sweet Merlin, Asteria! Why is that such a _fucking_ hard concept to grasp?!"

"Don't yell at me!" cried Ash, screwing up her fists in anger.

"Then stop being so bloody stupid!"

"I'm not stupid! You could never understand!"

"Oh, yeah, because _I'm Asteria Knight and I'm so hard to figure out_!"

Ash's face flared. "How dare you!" she cried. "You don't know what it's like! Don't you dare make such patronising judgements!"

George ran a hand through his flaming red locks and it was only then when Ash realised they had an audience of nervous shoppers. To be honest, they were in the middle of a street.

Ash swallowed quickly, refusing to meet George's eye as she marched past him, back up towards the shop.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Hunter or the Hunted**

_Chapter 6_

* * *

Ash sorted through her trunk, pushing past the box of Instant Darkness Powder and Decoy Detonators that Max had given her, to grab her beaters bat. She wanted to distract herself from everything, as well as wanting to practice... even though she wasn't sure she actually wanted to be part of the house team. This year, she was going to try and lay low.

So she strode out of the house, and into the wood. She came out at the clearing where the Weasley siblings often play Quidditch. Ash sighed and closed her eyes, trying her best to relax. Then, she started throwing her small, unanimated quaffles - which she had purchased from Diagon Alley - up in the air, smacking them as hard as she could with her bat. Ash wished she could use magic so she didn't have to go and find them in the thick woodland.

"They told me you'd be out here."

Ash paused, letting her ball drop to the floor instead of smacking it into the trees.

George was leaning against a tree at the edge of the clearing. It was strange to see him without his bright magenta robes – it made his hair seems darker somehow. It had been several weeks since their argument. They hadn't spoken since then.

"Shouldn't you be resting?"

Ash rolled her eyes, smacked a ball into the wood, before replying, "No, I'm fine." she said, maybe a little more tetchily than she meant to. The full moon was just around the corner, several days before she was due to return to Hogwarts. Thank god it wasn't the night before like last year.

"I came to apologise."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She couldn't really picture a Weasley twin apologising for anything.

"Well, no, not for most of it, but for some of it." elaborated George, walking forward to stand in front of her. "It was a little immature of me to imitate you, but other than that I don't take anything back."

Ash scoffed. "Whatever."

She paused for several moments, before finally admitting, "I thought about what you said."

"Ooo, which bit?"

Ash fought back the impulse to glare at him. "I, err, the bit about that being a monster doesn't matter and all that." She refused to meet his eye.

"What about it?" George questioned, a satisfied smile on his lips.

"I think its bullshit and you're naive as hell."

"Never been called naive before." said George, scratching his chin. "Fred has – well, actually, now that I think about it, they were probably directing that at both of us."

Ash rolled her eyes and hit her last ball into the woods.

"Besides," George continued. "You miss understood me."

Ash folded her arms with a frown. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't say that you being a werewolf isn't dangerous for us at certain points in the year." sighed George. "It is. But right now, you're human and you're no harm to us. It doesn't matter, y'see."

Ash thought for a moment, unable to fight a smile from creeping onto her lips. "You're reasoning is complete bullshit."

"It doesn't matter if you agree or not – I'm right, I know I am," grinned George. "So, we good?"

Ash sighed over dramatically. "Fine." she said, swinging her bat round her finger before putting it on the floor. "But only if you help me find my balls."

George grinned and Ash went off running into the woods.

It became almost like a competition – an easter egg hunt, except with unanimated bludgers.

"Got one!" she heard George yell in the distance, causing her to giggle.

She squatted down the grab another ball, when she heard a cracking sound, and then suddenly, Ash felt someone grab her shoulders.

"Graw!" George screeched in her ear through laughter.

Ash let out a shriek, before laughing and jumping to her feet, running off through the trees. Neither of them were quite sure how it happened, but they were now playing hide and seek. Ever since the bite, Ash always felt safe and happy between the trees and leaves. Maybe it was a wolf thing and perhaps it was something to do with the looming full moon, but her senses felt heightened and advanced.

Ash ran round the side of a large oak tree to catch her breath.

"Oi, Ash! Where'd you go?" George cried breathlessly, causing Ash to grin.

Ash knew he was getting closer – werewolf hearing – but she didn't move.

And then _SNAP, CRACK, BOOF._

George whirled round the tree, slapping his hands on either side of Ash's head.

They were both laughing, so hard that they could barely breathe. Slowly, when their laughter was starting to calm down, they were able to catch their breath.

Ash was looking up at George. A signature, mischievous, Weasley twin grin was etched on his freckled face. His face was lightly flushed and his chest was heaving as he was trying to catch his breath.

And George was looking down at Ash. Several dirty blonde strands of hair had escaped from her side plait, and were straggling over her scarred face. Her chest was heaving as she tried to calm down her breathing, and, like his, her face was flushed. The scars which she had gained in the horrific attack had now started to fade. They no longer looked angry and red, or out of place. Now, she wouldn't be complete without them.

And she was beautiful.

And in that moment, she wasn't Max's sister.

Without any real thought, he kissed her.

After several long moments – who knows how long it lasted – George pulled away.

It took them both several seconds to fully realise what had happened. They stared at each other, eyes wide.

"I err," started Ash breathlessly. She was frozen to the spot, unsure of what to say.

"Yeah." breathed George. He swallowed quickly.

Then, finally, her brain started to work. But... what on earth was going on? Why would George kiss her? This was bad. Was it? Of course it was! Ash and Neville didn't work out for a reason, so she couldn't just snog someone else and expect the results to be different! She couldn't get tangled up in something like this again... she couldn't do it to him.

And they stood like that for several moments, gazing at each other, with Ash's back against the old oak and George's hands on its bark so he didn't fall on top of her.

George leaned down, as if to kiss her once more, but this time Ash moved her head to the side. George paused, before pulling back.

"We should get back." said George finally. "Fred and them are probably wondering where we got to."

"Yes." replied Ash quickly, ducking under his arm and walking quickly off to collect her beaters bat.

* * *

"So how did it feel?"

"What'd you mean?"

Hermione and Ash were sitting on the floor in Ash's room. Ash couldn't hold what had happened in, and Hermione was surprisingly attracted to gossip. On top of that, she was often a good listener.

"Well, did you like it?"

"Like what?"

Hermione huffed impatiently. "You know, the kiss."

Ash drew her knees up to her chest, resting her chin upon them. "Well, that's irrelevant. And say I did, that would have been because the full moo-"

Hermione waved her hand, batting Ash's words away. "Ignore the werewolf thing. That's just a small part of you. You can't use it as an excuse!"

Despite everything, Ash felt herself grin. She shook her head. "Nobody even noticed I existed before I was a werewolf."

"Well," said Hermione, nodding. "Things happen for a reason. Now tell me what it was like!"

Ash laughed. "You're impossible! I, err, I-"

"What are you talking about?"

"Harry, were you eavesdropping?!" cried Ash, scandalised.

"Not really," said the skinny young man, walking in and sitting down beside Hermione. "I'm just bored. So what's going on?"

Ash and Hermione glanced at each other.

And then the door opened again.

"What's with the mothers' meeting?" questioned Ginny, inviting herself in and sitting down to form a circle.

Ash groaned, leaning her head on her knees.

"Well it's nice to see you too." said Ginny sarcastically.

"Is this girl stuff?" questioned Harry, adjusting his glasses anxiously.

"Well, sort of." said Hermione slowly.

"Is this about what took you and George so long?" questioned Ginny.

Ash looked up, her face flushing. "Wha-"

"I thought so." she said, nodding knowledgeably.

Harry blinked. "What?"

"No you didn't." mumbled Ash, eyebrow raised sceptically.

"It was all in the body language." said Ginny knowingly. "You looked uncomfortable, and George wanted to talk to Fred immediately. It's kind of obvious that he was panicking... to those who know them well anyway."

"I don't understand." said Harry, automatically looking to Hermione.

Ash didn't know how, but Hermione managed not to roll her eyes.

"What's going on in here?"

That was Ron.

"Just kill me now." groaned Ash.

"You're such a drama queen." said Ginny, fighting back a grin.

"I am not!"

"You are." said Ron, nodding his head as he sat down. What's with the head nodding?! "You just seem to... create it. Harry does the same thing."

Harry gawked at him indignantly.

"You do, Harry." confirmed Hermione, before turning to Ash. "And yeah, you do to."

"I don't mean to!" cried Ash and Harry in unison.

They turned to look and each other, eyes wide. That was when the other three burst out laughing; Great, loud, uncontrollable laughter.

Finally, after trying not to, Ash couldn't resist smiling.

She glanced at Harry and he was wearing a bashful grin, emerald eyes glowing with mirth behind his round spectacles.

Hermione's hair, which had been tied back, was starting to escape from it's overworked scrunchy as she shook her head in amusement.

Ron, in all his lanky glory, had a large, lopsided grin on his lips. His ginger hair was spiking up in odd positions, and had been doing so since his mother forced him into a long overdue haircut.

Ginny had a warm, bright smile on her lips as the laughter started to die down. Her mane of red hair hung loose around her shoulders, framing her face. Her hazel eyes were glittering with mirth. Ash didn't miss them occasionally dart to Harry.

These were her friends... right? George said... they cared about her... These were the people she needed to protect and maybe trying to distance herself from them wasn't the best way to do so.

* * *

_**A/N: Hi! Okay, I know this is short, but I have news! Every Wednesday, I will be posting a new chapter! Yay! Organisation! (by the way, are you team George or team Neville? :P )**_


	7. Chapter 7

**The Hunter or the Hunted**

_Chapter 7_

* * *

"Now, dears, you're coming to us for Christmas, it's all fixed with Dumbledore, so we'll see you quite soon," said Mrs. Weasley through the window, as Harry slammed the door shut behind him and Ash, and the train began to move. "You make sure you look after yourself and-" The train was gathering speed. "-be good and-" She was jogging to keep up now. "-stay safe!"

Harry and Ash waved until the train had turned a corner and Mr and Mrs Weasley were lost to view.

On the Hogwarts express once more... Ash hoped this year would be better than the last.

She and Harry glanced at each other, before following Ginny, who was now a little way along the corridor chatting to some friends.

People stared shamelessly as they approached. To Ash's annoyance – and slight amusement - some even pressed their faces against the windows of their compartments to get a good look at Harry.

"It's like they've never seen you before." commented Ash humorously.

"They stare at me when I'm crazy; they stare at me when I'm not. I wonder what I have to do to stop them gawking at me." mumbled Harry uncomfortably.

"You could take off your glasses." suggested Ash. "Then you couldn't see them and they may not recognise you."

"Yes, thank you." said Harry dryly. "Not helpful."

Ash grinned as they approached Ginny.

"Fancy trying to find a compartment?" Harry suggested to Ginny.

"I can't, Harry, I said I'd meet Dean," said Ginny brightly. "See you two later."

"Right," said Harry.

Ash raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What?!"

"Let's find a seat." said Ash, changing the subject as she noticed that Harry was slowly getting swarmed by mesmerised girls.

She pushed past them – much to their annoyance – with Harry following her.

"Hi, Harry!"

They turned to see Neville and Luna fighting through the crowd – well, more like drifting in Luna's case.

"Neville!" greeted Harry.

"Hello, Harry," said Luna, eyes large and misty as usual. "Hello, Asteria."

"Luna, hi, how are you?"

"Very well, thank you," said Luna. She was clutching a magazine to her chest; large letters on the front announced that there was a pair of free Spectrespecs inside.

"Quibbler still going strong, then?" asked Harry, as Ash grinned - while avoiding Neville's eye.

"Oh yes, circulation's well up," said Luna happily, before turning to Ash. "How's the charm?"

Ash glanced down at her neck. She had started to wear the unusual 'medical' necklace - which Luna had given her in the hospital wing after her suspension - out of habit. It did absolutely nothing, but Ash didn't have the heart to tell Luna that.

"Yeah, it's great." insisted Ash, grin on her lips. "I feel a lot more, erm, human."

Luna beamed. "That's nice."

"Let's find seats," said Harry, and the four of them set off along the train through hordes of silently staring students. At last they found an empty compartment, and Harry hurried inside gratefully.

"They're even staring at us?" said Neville, indicating himself and Luna. "Because we're with you!"

"It's like they have no shame." mumbled Ash, as she tried to avoid looking at a girl who seemed desperate to make eye contact with her.

"They're staring at you because you were at the Ministry too," said Harry, as he hoisted his trunk into the luggage rack. "Our little adventure there was all over the Daily Prophet, you must've seen it."

"Yes, I thought Gran would be angry about all the publicity," said Neville, "but she was really pleased. Says I'm starting to live up to my dad at long last. She bought me a new wand, look!"

He pulled it out and showed it to Harry with the same pride he had when he showed Ash earlier in the year.

"Cherry and unicorn hair," he said proudly. "We think it was one- Oi, come back here, Trevor!"

And he dived under the seat to retrieve his toad as it made one of its frequent bids for freedom. Ash grinned, finally managing to shove her trunk up on the luggage rack and taking a seat beside Luna.

"Are we still doing D.A. meetings this year, Harry?" asked Luna, who was detaching a pair of psychedelic spectacles from the middle of The Quibbler as Ash watched curiously.

"No point now we've got rid of Umbridge, is there?" said Harry, sitting down.

Neville bumped his head against the seat as he emerged from under it. He looked most disappointed. "I liked the D.A.! I learned loads with you!"

"It's the only reason why I passed Defence class." spoke up Ash. "Plus, I never got to lean the patronus charm."

"I'll teach you the patronus charm if you join the Quidditch team."

"Erg! Harry!" moaned Ash. Ever since he'd got that Quidditch Captain badge, he'd been trying to get her to reapply for the team. "Not that deal again!"

Harry grinned.

"I enjoyed the meetings too," said Luna serenely. "It was like having friends."

"We are your friends, Luna." said Ash brightly. She remembered what it was like to have no friends. She was friends with a guy who was also being picked on by Dudley Dursley for a brief stretch, before he moved to Canada. In fact, the first time she ever had any real friends was after she was bitten. It's weird how things work out.

"Oh," said Luna, bright eyes somehow getting larger. "That's nice."

That's when Ash turned her attention to the girls giggling outside the door. It was annoying as hell. Ash was pretty sure they were fourth years, but she could have been wrong. They were whispering weird things like;

"You ask him!"

"No, you!"

"I'll do it!"

Finally, a bold-looking girl with large dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair pushed her way through the door over-dramatically. Ash raised an eyebrow.

"Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane," she said loudly and confidently, giving her hair a quick flip. "Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with them," she added in a stage whisper, indicating Neville's bottom, which was sticking out from under the seat again as he groped around for Trevor, Luna, who was now wearing her free Spectrespecs, which gave her the look of a demented, multicoloured owl, and Ash, who was looking fairly normal compared to the others. Although her half-amused, half-irritated expression was probably a little weird.

"They're friends of mine," said Harry coldly.

"Oh," said the girl, looking very surprised. "Oh. Okay."

She backed away, out the compartment, slid the door shut and walked off with her friends.

"People expect you to have cooler friends than us," said Luna, once again displaying her knack for embarrassing honesty.

"You are cool," said Harry shortly. "None of them was at the Ministry. They didn't fight with me."

"That's a very nice thing to say," beamed Luna. Then she pushed her Spectrespecs farther up her nose and settled down to read The Quibbler.

Ash couldn't fight back a grin. Merlin, she loved Luna.

* * *

A few hours into the journey, Ash got up to stretch. Walking down the corridor, she did her best to avoid any curious looks by onlookers by looking down at her feet.

However, looking down and seeing her pendant glow, caused her to glance back up towards the compartments. For the first time since learning of Castors possible transfer, she started to actually panic. It never really sunk in that an Alexander would _really _be attending Hogwarts. But now he was here.

She walked several more steps, past several compartments, when she froze.

Her eyes locked onto another pair of pale blue eyes. The boy, already dressed in his Slytherin Hogwarts uniform, stood up. Ash supposed he must have been sorted before the beginning of term too. How had Dumbledore let this happen? Didn't he know how dangerous this was for her?

Draco, who had been lounging beside him, looked up indignantly. His cold, grey eyes bore holes in her as Castor made his way across the compartment. He slid the door open.

"Asteria. May I speak with you?"

Ash couldn't help but scoff. "Oh, we're being civil now, are we?"

"Know your place, half-breed." he snarled, as if was an instinctual reaction.

"Thought it was too good to be true." replied Ash, smirk on her lips.

"Look here, Knight-" snarled Draco, taking to his feet.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist." said Ash, trying her best to keep her voice calm. She was too tired to argue.

Ash turned to face her twin brother. It was chilling how similar his features were to hers.

"I don't want to argue." she said slowly. "In fact, I don't even really want to talk to you. I just think we should stay as far away from each other as possible."

"Not possible."

"Excuse you?" Ash was genuinely surprised.

"One day, you will become a part of Antinus-Lupus and-"

"Okay, okay," said Ash raising her hand. She tried to keep her voice calm, but she could feel herself panicking. "One, you're just as delusional as your father-"

"I'm nothing like my father." interrupted Castor quickly, stepping forward so he too was in the corridor. Draco's eyes flickered to Castor. Was that... a look of concern? Ash needed to get out of here – things were getting weird.

"O...kay..." replied Ash suspiciously, folding her arms. "Yet you still expect me to hunt people – my own kind. Can you see how that doesn't make sense?"

"You don't have a choice." he hissed.

"That's what he said."

Castor whipped out his wand, pointing it at her throat and backing her against the wall.

"I am not my father."

Ash stayed frozen to the spot for several moments, surprised by his actions. Then, slowly, Ash reached into her robe pocket. She was suddenly glad that she had changed into them earlier as she could now reach her wand easily. She whipped out her wand and held it to his stomach.

"No, you're not." she gasped, really starting to panic. "If you were, you'd have probably killed me by now. Like Uncle."

Castor moved his wand a little further away from her neck. "How do you know about that?"

Ash frowned. "I've talked to him. Why do you care?"

"You've talked to him? When? Where is he?"

"I'm not going to tell you that. You'd have him dead." snarled Ash, glaring at him. "Now back off before I hex you."

"Don't threaten me." he snarled, backing up and moving into a perfect duel stance.

"I'm not going to get into a fight on the Hogwarts express!" said Ash, although her wand was raised too.

Castor made the first move. "Entomo-"

"Salvio Hexia." snapped Ash, deflecting the hex.

Castor just seemed angered.

"Redactum Sk-"

"Expelliarmus!"

His wand flung from his hand, and into Ash's.

"Give me my wand!" he cried furiously, as Crabbe and Goyle stood up, looking menacing at Castor's sides.

"Steleus." said Ash with a flick of her wand.

Castor started sneezing uncontrollably and buckled over.

Crabbe and Goyle drew their wands. That's when Ash started flicking again, and soon, every member of the compartment was sneezing.

"I don't want to cause any problems." said Ash, unable to repress a grin. She chucked Castor's wand onto the spare seat in the compartment. "Please don't threaten me again."

"I say, bravo."

Ash froze. A rather fat, balding old man stood behind her – so fat, in fact, that Ash was surprised that he could get down the corridor without getting stuck. To the young woman, he looked distinctly like a walrus, due to his enormous, silver moustache.

"I, erm, I mean-" Ash started to stutter. Was he a teacher? Oh god, she was going to get detention before school even started.

"Don't worry, dear girl." he said, chuckling as he patted her bony shoulder with a large, sausage-like hand. "I forgot that hex existed. Simple, intelligent and mature. Brilliant, if I don't say so myself. I say, you're Asteria Knight, are you not?"

Ash slowly nodded. He didn't half talk a lot.

"I thought so." he said, drawing his wand from his velvet robes. "You've got all the civil rights groups and all the wrong areas of the ministry fired up."

"Ah."

The man merely chuckled. He waved his wand, curing the Slytherin's of their sneezing infection, before continuing. "Darcy Reed has been writing to me – one of my old students, you see. She was very successful – first an Auror, then a magizoologist. Now she writes books about werewolves and is head of the Equality for Werewolves Association."

"Oh, yes, I think I have one of her books." replied Ash politely.

"Well that's fantastic." he said brightly. "She's been dying to meet you – although another time I think, don't you?"

Ash forced a slight laugh, which probably sounded horribly awkward.

"Why don't you join me for lunch?" he suggested.

"I, erm, I don't quite-"

"Of course, you don't even know who I am, do you?" he said merrily. "Professor Slughorn, it's a pleasure to meet you."

He attempted to bow, but he sort of bobbed slightly with a smile, moustache bristling. Ah, so he's the new Professor Harry went to get.

Ash smiled, "Nice to meet you, sir."

"So do accompany me to lunch. I'm inviting a few students – very selective, you see."

Ash couldn't exactly say no, so she followed him down the corridor, all the way to compartment C.

She took a seat in the corner, feeling rather uncomfortable.

"I already sent invitations to the others." said Slughorn, nodding in self-satisfaction.

They were silent for several moments as Slughorn watched her.

"Are you much of a potioneer, Miss Knight?" he questioned. Ash was caught off by the question as she was expecting to be asked about Defence against the Dark Arts.

"I think I'm okay." said Ash unsurely. "I didn't get a high enough mark in my O.W.L.s to continue, but I'm going to keep it up – as more of a hobby really."

Slughorn nodded with a smile. "Passion is everything." he said. "Maybe I ask what mark you received?"

"An E," said Ash with a slightly sad smile. "I was close, but not close enough."

Slughorn blinked. "My dear girl, that mark is high enough to get you into my class."

A frown of confusion crossed her lips. "But, aren't you the Defen-"

"No, no, no," he said with a chuckle, eyes glistening. "Potions for me. I insist that you attend my classes, Miss Knight."

Ash grinned. "I'm looking forward to it, Professor."

Ash was suddenly very glad that she'd brought the sixth year potions equipment at their trip to Diagon Alley.

Then, there was a knock on the door. A boy – who she knew was a Gryffindor in the year above – slid open the door.

"Professor Slughorn?" he questioned, a smile on his lips. "I'm Cormac McLaggen."

"Ah, welcome, Mr McLaggon." said Slughorn merrily. He gestured to the seat beside himself and Ash. "Do take a seat. The others should be arriving soon."

Cormac hesitated, glancing at Ash apprehensively. In responsive, Ash raised a questioning eyebrow. Cormac swallowed quickly, before sitting down.

And this was how it continued. A seventh year Ravenclaw, named Marcus Belby arrived, followed by Blaise Zabini from Slytherin. Finally, Harry and Neville arrived.

"Harry, m'boy!" cried Slughorn, jumping up at the sight of him so that his great velvet-covered belly seemed to fill all the remaining space in the compartment. "Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom!"

Neville nodded, looking terrified. At a gesture from Slughorn, they sat down opposite each other in the only two empty seats, which were nearest the door. That was when Harry started to look around.

His eyes stopped when they landed on Ash. His eyes widened. Ash sent him a look saying, 'Oh my Merlin, please help me.'

Harry's eyebrow quirked upwards.

Ash pursed her lips lightly.

Harry frowned slightly.

She touched her Antinus-Lupus pendent.

Harry's eyes widened in understanding.

Ash rolled her eyes.

They smirked at each other.

"Ah, yes, Miss Knight mentioned she knew you." said Slughorn, eyes glistening with excitement.

Harry and Ash glanced at each other anxiously, confused by the look in his eye. Ash glanced to the side at Neville. He looked incensed. He wasn't quite glaring at her, but it was pretty close.

Ash frowned in confusion and Neville just looked away, biting his lip.

The rest of the lunch was rather uncomfortable. As Slughorn passed around food, he quizzed the others on their backgrounds. That's when Ash realised that everyone there seemed to have been invited because they were connected to somebody well-known or influential – all except Ash. He even quizzed Neville on his parents – which is outrageous! What right did he have to ask about that sort of thing?!

"And now," said Slughorn, shifting massively in his seat with an air of excitement and turning to Harry. "Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer! "'The Chosen One,' they're calling you now!"

Harry said nothing, looking uncomfortable as the others stared at him.

"Of course," said Slughorn, watching Harry closely, "there have been rumours for years... I remember when... well... after that terrible night... Lily... James... and you survived...

Ash's jaw tightened. First Neville, now Harry.

"...and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary..."

Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused skepticism.

Ash scoffed angrily. "Yeah, Zanini, 'cause you're so talented. I'm sure if you go out and pout, you'll save the world."

"Oh dear!" chuckled Slughorn comfortably, looking around at Ash, who was glaring at Zabini. "You want to be careful, Blaise! I'm sure she'll best and humiliate anyone in a duel."

Ash smirked, realising that Zabini was one of the Slytherins that she put the sneezing hex on. Zabini merely looked contemptuous.

Harry raised an eyebrow. Ash merely shrugged.

* * *

Finally, after hours of Slughorn going on, and on, and on, he realised that the sun was setting.

"Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps! You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you. McLaggen, you must drop by and borrow that book on nogtails. Harry, Blaise – any time you're passing. Same goes for you, miss," he twinkled at Ash. "Well, off you go, off you go!"

"I'm glad that's over," muttered Neville as they walked down the corridor. "Strange man, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is a bit," said Harry, before turning to Ash. "So you jinxed your brother?"

"Yeah," sighed Ash. "I told him to stay away from me and he got pissy – tried to hex me. He's a bit crap at it. I couldn't be bothered to really try, so I just cast the sneezing hex on them all. Slughorn thought it was 'intelligent' and 'mature'. I thought it was lazy really, but, eh."

"All?"

"Yeah, Castor, Goyle, Crabbe, Zabini, Parkinson, Malfoy."

Harry laughed. "Brilliant."

"Yeah, brilliant." agreed Neville. But there was something about the way he said it that caused Ash to frown.

While she was distracted, Harry must have noticed something and was suddenly pulling out his Invisibility Cloak

"I'll see you two later," said Harry under his breath, before flinging his cloak over himself.

"But what're you-?" asked Neville.

"Later!" whispered Harry.

Ash frowned.

"He's going to get himself in trouble."

Neville mumbled in agreement.

Well, this was as good an opportunity as any. Ash turned to face him. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Stop lying."

Neville stopped a turned to face her. "So it's not about being a werewolf after all." he said bitterly.

"What are you tal-"

"Oh just save it." grumbled Neville, stalking off.

"Hey, don't-" Ash ran to catch up with him and grabbed his arm. "What's going on?"

He pulled his arm from her grip. "Everyone saw it. How you two were looking at each other, silently talking."

"Nev-"

"So it's worth a shot when it's with Harry Potter, but not me?!" he snapped, a hurt expression on his face.

Ash's jaw slacked. "Neville! That's outrageous! I'm not-"

"Just don't lie!"

"Oh for god's sake!" cried Ash, exasperated. "You know what? You're jealous!"

"I'm not jealous."

"Well, guess what? I did kiss another guy this summer, and it wasn't Harry _fucking_ Potter!"

Neville's jaw slacked as Ash charged past him, face flaring and air flying from her loose plait.

What the hell is wrong with guys?


	8. Chapter 8

**The Hunter or the Hunted**

_Chapter 8_

* * *

As soon as the sentence left her lips, Ash regretted what she said. It wasn't even true. She didn't kiss George back – she was too surprised to even try. Besides, she didn't even know how she felt about George... He was her brother's best friend after all. He was also a Weasley brother. Also, Ash had no clue why he even kissed her. I mean... was it just one of those weird spur of the moment type things? Maybe he'd liked her for a while, and Ash had just never noticed. No, she couldn't even consider that sort of thing. She had to turn him down either way; just look at what happened to her and Neville.

Throughout the welcoming feast, it was hard to ignore Neville's glances; however, Ash had many things to distract herself.

For one, Seamus seemed even more enthusiastic about Quidditch than usual, seeing as he was able to talk about it endlessly. However, Ash got the feeling that he was just trying to distract himself from Ginny and Dean, who were sitting closely together and talking quietly on his other side.

Another issue was that Castor was sitting at the Slytherin table. He was looking disgustingly pleased with himself as he talked with his house mates, who seemed overly eager to get his attention.

Thirdly, and most importantly, Harry was missing. Hermione had asked her to recount Harry's departure from Slughorn's lunch meeting several times, even though it told them nothing of his whereabouts. Ash had a feeling that it had something to do with Malfoy and her brother.

He arrived just as pudding started, still dressed in his muggle clothes, blood covering his face. It looked like it was coming from his nose. Hadn't she seen Malfoy miming something earlier with his nose..? As Ron and Hermione started quizzing him, Ash leaned over the table.

"Was it Malfoy?" Ash questioned darkly.

Harry looked surprised for a moment, before giving a sharp nod. "Now can we drop it?"

"That bastard." grumbled Ron, but deciding to reach for pudding instead of interrogating Harry further.

After a day like that, Ash was grateful to get to bed.

* * *

Hermione and Ash met Ron and Harry in the common room before breakfast the next morning, and Harry wasted no time before telling them the details of his encounter with Malfoy.

"Bloody death eater." grumbled Ash.

"I'm glad someone agrees." mumbled Harry.

"I really don't believe Malfoy is a death eater." sighed Hermione, folding her arms.

Ash slowly became aware of the prying eyes of the other Gryffindors. The others seemed to notice the same thing and together, they made their way towards the portrait hole to leave.

"It's rude to point," Ron snapped at a first-year boy as they joined the queue to climb out of the portrait hole. The boy, who had been pointing at Harry's forehead, promptly turned scarlet and toppled out of the hole in alarm.

Ron and Ash sniggered.

"I love being a sixth year," commented Ron. "And were going to be getting free time this year. Whole periods when we can just sit up here and relax."

"We're going to need that time for studying, Ron!" said Hermione, as they set off down the corridor.

"Yeah, but not today." grinned Ron. "Oh, by the way Ash, d'you get into another argument with Neville?"

"Err, why?" questioned Ash quickly. So quickly that it caused Harry to raise an eyebrow at her.

"He was asking weird questions about your summer. I think he was trying to be subtle – didn't really work."

Ash groaned, rubbing her eyes. "I may have accidently really offended him, but to be fair, he thought I was dating Harry."

"Ew." commented Harry.

"Yea- wait, excuse you?" Ash felt mildly offended and rounded on Harry. "What's wrong with me?"

"I, err, w-"

But before he could reply, Hermione threw out her arm to halt a passing fourth year, who was attempting to push past her with a lime-green disk clutched tightly in his hand.

"Hold it!" she called sternly. "Fanged Frisbees banned, hand it over."

The scowling boy handed over the snarling Frisbee and took off after his friends. Ron waited for him to vanish, then tugged the Frisbee from Hermione's grip.

"Excellent, I've always wanted one of these."

Ash snorted at the look on Hermione's face. Hermione soon started telling him off, but her lecturing was quickly drowned out by a loud giggle.

Lavender Brown had apparently found Ron's words hilarious. She continued to laugh as she passed them, glancing back at Ron over her shoulder. Ron looked rather pleased with himself.

Ash raised an eyebrow.

When they arrived at the Great Hall, Ash bid the trio farewell and made a beeline for Neville. Sliding onto the bench next to him, she started thinking about exactly what to say. He pretended that he was ignoring her, although he wasn't exactly great at looking out of the corner of his eyes discreetly.

"I'm sorry, I made it up." she mumbled.

"What?" questioned Neville, finally looking away from his bacon.

"I made what I said on the train up," mumbled Ash, head down. Ash looked up at him with a slight frown. "Well, sort of. Besides, I'm not interested in him, so it doesn't really matter."

Neville turned to look at her, a disgruntled expression on his face. "What do you mean?"

"You know, it's not really any of your business." mumbled Ash, folding her arms irritably.

"Sorry, I thought you were apologising."

Ash frowned at him, lips pursed. "Yeah, sorta."

Neville shook his head in disbelief. "Whatever." he sighed, turning to face Ash, before holding out a hand. "Friends?"

Ash grinned. "Friends," she confirmed, shaking his hand.

Ash turned to her breakfast.

"But," started Neville.

Ash rolled her eyes, putting down the box of cheeri owls cereal. "What?"

"If it wasn't Harry-"

Ash huffed. "It was George, not that it-"

"George?!" cried Neville, causing many of the Gryffindors to look round.

"Neville, shut up." snapped Ash, hitting his arm.

"Ow." he whined, pulling his arm away.

Ash smirked.

"You're so evil." he mumbled, disturbed by her devilish smirk.

"Well, don't shout stuff like that."

"But, seriously, George?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Neville just sighed. "He's really..."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Neville shrugged. "He's just really..."

"Just spit it out."

"Well, he could have anyone, couldn't he?"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" mumbled Ash defensively.

Neville's eyes widened. "N-no, that's not what I meant. I mean, why aren't you off writing love letters or something?"

Ash raised her eyebrows. She scoffed. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not exactly the letter writing type."

"You know what I mean."

"I'm not randomly just going to jump into his arms because he decides to snog me. Besides, why are we even having this conversation?"

"I don't know, but it's making me uncomfortable." mumbled Neville, small smile on his lips.

Ash grinned, before turning back to her meal.

* * *

After breakfast, Professor McGonagall descended from the staff table, distributing class schedules. This took an unfortunately long time, due to McGonagall first needing to confirm that everybody had achieved the necessary O.W.L. grades to continue with their chosen N.E.W.T.s.

McGonagall eventually approached Neville, running a finger down her list.

"Herbology, fine," she said. "Professor Sprout will be delighted to see you back with an 'Outstanding' O.W.L. And you qualify for Defence Against the Dark Arts with 'Exceeds Expectations.' But the problem is Transfiguration. I'm sorry, Longbottom, but an 'Acceptable' really isn't good enough to continue to N.E.W.T. level. Just don't think you'd be able to cope with the coursework."

Neville hung his head. Professor McGonagall peered at him through her square spectacles.

"Why do you want to continue with Transfiguration, anyway? I've never had the impression that you particularly enjoyed it."

"My grandmother wants me to. She says it's better than the other subjects." muttered Neville miserably.

Merlin, what is wrong with his family? Actually, Ash decided that she probably wasn't one to judge.

"Hmph," snorted Professor McGonagall. "It's high time your grandmother learned to be proud of the grandson she's got, rather than the one she thinks she ought to have - particularly after what happened at the Ministry."

Neville turned very pink and blinked confusedly as Ash grinned into her cereal.

"I'm sorry, Longbottom, but I cannot let you into my N.E.W.T. class. I see that you have an 'Exceeds Expectations' in Charm however - why not try for a N.E.W.T. in Charms?"

"My grandmother thinks Charms is a soft option," mumbled Neville.

"Take Charms," said Professor McGonagall, "and I shall drop Augusta a line reminding her that just because she failed her Charms O.W.L., the subject is not necessarily worthless."

Ash smiled at the look of delighted incredulity on Neville's face. Professor McGonagall tapped a blank schedule with the tip of her wand and handed it, now carrying details of his new classes, to Neville.

"See you." mumbled Neville, looking rather cheerful as he left for his first lesson.

McGonagall turned next to Ash. "Hmm, Divination fine, so is Care of Magical Creatures. 'Exceeds Expectations' allows you to qualify for Defence Against the Dark Arts." Then McGonagall paused. "Professor Slughorn has also requested for you to join his potions class, which I suppose is acceptable with your high grade. Is this all correct?"

Ash nodded.

Like she had done with Neville's, Professor McGonagall tapped her wand on a blank schedule and handed it to Ash before turning to Parvati Patil.

Ash looked down at her schedule to see that she now had Divination. Yippee...

* * *

Castor made his was down to the Transfiguration, following the directions Malfoy had given him. He paused when he saw several students – who were around his age – milling around outside the classroom. There were two Slytherin girls, two Gryffindors, five Ravenclaws and one in yellow robes. What was the name of the house with yellow again? Castor couldn't remember. He didn't really care... but this boy had a really stupid hair cut.

His wavy hair was neat, apart from the fringe, which seemed a little too long and had been flopped forward. It gave Castor the impression that this kid was trying to be rebellious, but couldn't quite bare his hair to be too messy. The very notion made Castor smirk.

The guy looked up suddenly, causing Castor to quickly look away, realising that he had been staring. He glanced up out of the corner of his eye, to see whether he'd noticed. He had.

"Good Morning. You're Castor Knight, right?" he questioned with a smile, holding out his hand

"Alexander." corrected Castor, before hesitantly accepting his handshake.

"Very sorry, I just assumed – with your sister's name being Knight and all." he said. "I'm Justin by the way, Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"Hi."

Justin showed no sign of leaving. Damn, so Castor would actually have to try and be polite?

"I was trying to remember what house the yellow robes meant." said Castor, offering the statement as both an explanation for his staring, and a conversation starter.

"Hufflepuff." said Justin with a proud smile.

"What's that meant to say about you?" asked Castor. He seemed to remember Malfoy saying it was full of weak idiots.

Justin gave a small, slightly embarrassed grin. "Honest, loyal, hardworking," He shrugged carelessly. "However, a house can only say so much about a person."

Castor raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I know a Ravenclaw – our year," he elaborated. "They're all meant to be smart, but this guy completely flunked his O.W.L.s, and you can't have an intelligent conversation with him. Nearly wasn't invited back this year, but his father's a big ministry official or something, so he's safe."

"Huh." mumbled Castor. "What's the Slytherin stereotype then?"

Justin hesitated. "Err, well, umm."

Castor raised an eyebrow.

"The general stereotype is that the Slytherins are the bullies. The rotten eggs, you know."

Castor's frown deepened. "I see."

"There're also ambitious... Sorry, I didn't mean to offen-"

Castor raised a hand, silencing the Hufflepuff. "I don't care. I don't do 'teams'."

"No one really thinks of them as teams – more like families."

Castor scoffed at the comment. "How wonderfully childish."

Justin was caught off guard for a moment, unsure of how to reply and unsure whether or not the Slytherin was patronising him. Either way, Justin didn't particularly like this tone.

"They don't have this sort of thing at Durmstrang?" questioned Justin.

"No."

"Well, how do they sort everyone into dorms?"

"Magic Skill."

Justin frowned. "That seems a little... harsh."

"It's realistic." said Castor with a shrug. "Being in dorm one is the ultimate goal for most students."

Justin was about to reply, when Professor McGonagall came striding down the hall.

"Everyone go in and sit down!" she ordered. "Textbooks out on page thirteen."

Castor sat near the back – away from the Ravenclaws who seemed extra keen to get to the front – and to the side – away from the Slytherin girls who were eying him a way that made him uncomfortable. Of all the seats Justin could have sat in, he decided to sit beside him. Castor didn't quite know how to feel about this.

* * *

_A/N: I'm not really sure how to feel about this chapter. It's a bit short, but I've had a bit of a mental week. I got my GCSE results back last Thursday so it was a bit of a stressful time. I got an A* in English – probably thanks to doing this! It's really improved my writing. Thank you to everyone who was supported my writing! I a way you helped me get this top mark! (To bad writing doesn't help my Chemistry – got a C in that, ha ha). Also, What d'you guys think of Castor and Justin in this chapter...?_


	9. Chapter 9

**The Hunter or the Hunted**

_Chapter 9_

* * *

Ash decided that she now strongly disliked Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. She had forgotten that the lessons were not actually like Dumbledore's Army, taught by one of her best friends. Last year, she hadn't really considered Umbridge's lessons as lessons, more like torture where she always seemed to end up in detention.

Actually, Snape's lesson wasn't actually _that_ bad. He was unpleasant to be around – as usual – but at least he was actually teaching. Also, Ash managed to avoid detention, whereas Harry did not.

The real problem with the lesson was Snape's choice of pictures which hung on the wall. Many of them showed people who appeared to be in pain, sporting grisly injuries or strangely contorted body parts.

In the corner of the room, an alarming picture of a young man hung on the wall. It was obviously a fairly recent photograph, due to it being in colour (and the Weird Sisters t-shirt he was wearing). The man, probably in his early twenties, was shaking and shuddering in pain. He was screaming – sharp hair shoving its way through his skin and his feet and back bones starting to elongate. It made Ash feel sick and to make matters worse, she couldn't seem to look away.

She was thankful to get out of the classroom.

However, little did she know was that the worst was still to come.

Although Care of Magical Creatures went off without a hitch – it turned out that only a handful of students (she was the only Gryffindor) were taking the lesson – the same couldn't have been said about Potion's class.

Now, it wasn't actually the teacher or the lesson that was the problem – more specifically it was what happened during the lesson, and that was to do with Castor Alexander. Potions was the only class she shared with her dear brother, which she should be thankful for. Every time she caught him looking at her, or when she looked at him, her head started to throb. Ash never knew that just the sight of someone would have such an effect.

Well, in hindsight, it wasn't really Castor's fault.

During dinner, Ash sat at the Gryffindor table beside Harry. He was babbling about some potions book he'd found with extra hints in how to make great potions – Ash didn't really care. Her splitting headache just kept getting worse.

"I s'pose you think I cheated?" Harry finished, staring at Hermione with an annoyed frown.

Ash decided that she couldn't stomach dinner.

"Well, it wasn't exactly your own work, was it?" Hermione said stiffly.

"Hang on," said Ginny as she joined them, looking alarmed and frankly, rather angry. "Did I hear right? You've been taking orders from something someone wrote in a book, Harry?"

Ah yeah, remembered Ash, Ginny was possessed by a book a while ago. Ash tried to remember the details, but it just made her head throb.

"It's nothing," Harry said reassuringly, lowering his voice. "It's not like, you know, Riddle's diary. It's just an old textbook someone's scribbled on."

"But you're doing what it says?"

"I just tried a few of the tips written in the margins, honestly, Ginny, there's nothing funny-"

"Ginny's got a point," said Hermione, perking up at once.

Ash had had enough. As the girls started digging through Harry's bag in search for his potions book – to his indignation – Ash stood up. No one really noticed as she walked quickly – albeit wobbly – from the hall.

She wasn't the only one who had that idea.

* * *

"If you're going to vomit on my meal, turn away."

Castor glared at Draco, before scoffing. He knew he wasn't going to vomit, but he may just try to disgust Draco. Draco had been irritating him since lunch, when he found out Castor had sat next to a mudblood in Transfiguration. Castor didn't know Justin was muggle-born, and to be fair, Castor couldn't be bothered to care. It's not like he was going to bother to listen to Justin bubbling on about his muggle family.

Castor stood up. The sudden movement just caused his headache to get worse, throbbing horribly.

"Where are you going, Cassie?" questioned Pansy.

Why does she insist in calling him that? Castor ignored her, walking quickly from the hall. He wanted to get away and get some medicine for his head. He could barely walk straight.

Then, he brushed shoulders with another. Asteria.

They were just outside the great hall when they fell.

The twins fell to their knees on the cold, stone floor.

The pain in their heads overwhelmed them.

And then, they started to scream.

They fell to their backs, bodies shuddering, mouths and eyes wide open. But all they saw was gold. The gold light was so, so bright. And it burnt. It seared their minds, scolding every inch of their bodies. But they could not scream any louder, nor cry any harder.

And then... darkness. The twins welcomed it, falling limp, side by side.

* * *

The screams sounded through the entrance hall, radiating through the walls and into the Great Hall.

The students silenced at the horrific noise.

Several teachers rose from their seats.

They heard to enormous front doors of Hogwarts burst open. The Aurors who were protecting the school must have heard the screaming.

McGonagall marched down from the staff table, closely accompanied by Professor Snape.

"Stay in your seats!" ordered McGonagall.

For once, every student obeyed her.

McGonagall flung open the door, only to see two of her students on the floor. They were shuddering and shaking, despite their barely conscious forms. The two aurors – Dawlish and Williamson – were staring at them in horror. McGonagall turned back to them. Then, she noticed their eyes.

Their pupils had grown, obscuring the pale blue and white from was kneeling beside Castor Alexander, staring down at his eyes.

"It's not poison." Snape exclaimed, trying his best to be heard over the screams.

McGonagall knelt beside the Gryffindor student, trying helplessly to ease her pain by stroking her forehead.

"There is no curse that could do this!" cried Williamson.

"Then what is it?" exclaimed McGonagall. She turned quickly to Dawlish. "Get Poppy!" she cried.

"It's the devil!" whimpered Williamson.

"Oh get a hold of yourself!" snapped Snape.

As the words left his lips, the twins stopped moving. They went limp, eyelids flicking shut.

"What happened?" questioned Williamson.

"We need to get them up to Poppy," muttered McGonagall, reaching for Ash's wrist to find her pulse the muggle way. It was faint. Too faint.

* * *

Ash's head hurt.

"My head hurts." she moaned, eyes still closed.

"When does it not?"

Ash creeped her eyes open to try to see the owner of the sarcastic voice. However, she was suddenly blinded by the sun. She quickly slapped her hands over her eyes.

"What'cha doing?"

Irish. Definitely Irish.

"Get lost, Seamus." Ash mumbled.

"Trelawney reckons you two were possessed. I came for research – anything to get me out of her crypt."

"What? You were just going to watch me sleep?" questioned Ash, frowning.

She attempted to move her arms from her eyes, but the light stung them once more. She hissed, covering her eyes once more.

"Did you eyes go black?"

Ash paused, pressing her palms lightly over her eyes to ease the sting. "How would I know? I can't see my own eyes."

"Well, were you possessed?"

"I was not possessed!"

"Mr Finnigan, would you _please _go back to class!"

"Can't, Ma'am, this is research – divination, y'see."

Ash smirked at that. There was silence, which Ash imagined Madam Pomfrey was fixing Seamus with a hard stare. It was only several moments later that Seamus said his goodbyes and hurried off.

"Your eyes are stinging too?" questioned Madam Pomfrey. Ash could hear her bustling. "Are they irritated by light?"

"Er, yeah." replied Ash, frowning. "What'd'you mean _too_?"

Ash heard rustling.

"You're brother had the exact same symptoms. I mixed this potion earlier to sooth the eyes."

"Max's here?" questioned Ash, without thinking.

"No, Castor."

Oh Merlin... was this the brain thing again? Bloody hell.

Madam Pomfrey set to work – applying the potion to a small pad. She covered Ash's closed eyes with the pad, before wrapping bandages round her head to hold it in place. Apparently, she'd had some sort of fit, which caused her pupils to expand, and to lose consciousness.

"And Castor told me everything about this brain-link business." Pomfrey informed her with a tone of both serious concern, and serious disapproval. "I believe that the incidents were related. For Merlin's sake child, why you didn't tell us sooner is frankly-"

Madam Pomfrey started lecturing. Ash couldn't believe that Castor had told Pomfrey something so... so mental sounding. Where the situations linked? Of course, how could they not be? She has obviously not been possessed.

The bandage smelled funny, but Ash couldn't exactly do anything about that. She didn't like being temporarily blind, but her hearing was excellent – probably a side effect of lycanthropy. Madam Pomfrey had already gone back into her office.

Suddenly, "Asteria?"

The voice was very close. Asteria swallowed quickly, holding her arms out to try to find out where the person was.

"Asteria?"

The voice... it was inside her head.

"Castor?" she thought.

"Finally, Asteria." sighed the voice – Castor.

"It's Ash."

Castor scoffed. The noise bounced around in her head.

"It's better than _Cassie_."

"I'm not called that by choice."

Ash huffed aloud. "Where are you anyway?" Ash thought.

"I don't know. But it's not in the same room as you."

"Why?"

"We kept having weird reactions to each other."

"Bloody brilliant."

"Trust me, I'm not exactly pleased by this either." Castor said with a snarl. "Anyway, any clues why we can mentally communicate?"

"Maybe the seizure-thing was our brains changing." suggested Ash. "We saw inside each others heads before. Maybe we're becoming more connected."

"Wow, what a brilliant theory." he voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Although you may not be completely wrong."

"You can drop the act now."

"Excuse me?"

"You can stop playing the arsehole. Malfoy isn't around."

Castor hesitated.

"Why is this happening?" questioned Ash, taking advantage of the silence.

"Who knows."

"Your father, probably."

Castor scoffed. "Yeah, probably."

Ash frowned. "You don't-"

"Worship _father_ like Malfoy worships his?" snorted Castor. "I hate him."

"Yet you follow his every command." retorted Ash sarcastically.

"You don't understand what it's like."

"I got a pretty good idea."

"No, you don't. He's killed-"

"Tons of werewolves. Yeah, I caught onto that when I discovered their creepy nest in the attic of Mum's house."

"I bet you didn't know he ordered her death."

Ash's jaw dropped. "No but... he was sad about her death. It was a werewolf..." She trailed off, feeling sick. Why is this such a surprise to her?

"He's a liar. I would have thought you'd have caught on to that by now."

"Whatever." mumbled Ash. "We need to worry about the eye situation at the moment."

"It stinks."

"Yeah, it sucks, I know."

"No, I mean it smells dreadful."

"It's the valerian root." Ash informed him.

"How do you know that?"

"It's general knowledge."

"Says the girl who grew up as a muggle." quipped Castor.

Ash was caught off guard. "I wish I was still a muggle." she replied after several moments. Life was so much easier back then... better even. She didn't have to put up with so much shit then – she only had to put up with bullies, not werewolves, a murdering father and various other evil psychopaths.

"What a pathetic wish."

"Says the boy who grew up as a wizard."

"That doesn't even make any sense."

"So? Yes it does."

"Tell it to someone who cares."

"You're still being a douche."

"That's because I am one."

"Huh?"

"I'm a douche."

Despite everything, Ash sniggered.

"I might as well admit it." reasoned Castor. "No use lying to myself."

Ash would have raised an eyebrow, but the bandages were restricting them. He wouldn't have been able to see to appreciate her eyebrow-skills anyway.

"You're kind of a douche too."

"Excuse you?" cried Ash.

She huffed. Ash never thought this sort of thing would happen. They were talking, and even though they were insulting each other, it was sort of pleasant.

Ash sighed. "I don't suppose you know what this brain-connection thing is about?"

"Not exactly. Only that it was planned."

"Planned?" repeated Ash in disbelief.

"Yeah. Father wrote some weird letter to me after it first started happening. It didn't really explain anything though – just some nonsense about it'll become clear in time."

Ash huffed irritably. "And Uncle muttered something about the Department of Mysteries... Why can't anyone just come out and explain what's going on?"

Castor snorted. "They're Alexanders. It doesn't work like that."

"Why couldn't my secret father have been Weasley or something? They're not psychopaths."

"You really do set your sights low, don't you?"

"Don't insult them." snapped Ash icily.

"Oh yeah, you and the half-brother have close ties to them."

"The half-brother's name is Max." said Ash through clenched teeth.

"Why should I bother to remember his name?"

"Every time we start to get along, you go and piss me off again."

"Don't you think that's a fault of yours, rather than mine?"

"No, I don't."

Castor gave a sharp laugh. "I think it must be the werewolf – quick to snap."

"Fuck you."

Castor didn't reply.

* * *

There was a sudden crash and Ash quickly looked towards the source of the sound.

"Ron?"

"How'd she know it was me?"

"You sound like you." commented Ash, earning an indignant snort. "I heard you three coming from down the hall."

"How's the eye thing going?" questioned Harry as Ash heard the scraping of chairs being pulled up.

"I just really hope I'll be able to see again soon." said Ash with a sigh. "I'd be pretty pathetic if I was blind too, huh?"

"Well it's nice to see that you're keeping positive." commented Hermione.

"So what's the new rumour about me?" questioned Ash. "Wasn't it half-mermaid, half-vampire last year?"

"Heard Zacharias Smith going on about demonic possession." suggested Ron.

"Sweet."

"To be honest, it was rather terrifying."

Ash frowned slightly, turning to Hermione. "What d'you mean?"

"You don't remember what happened?"

"Not really. I remember it hurt quite a bit, but beside that..."

"You screamed. A lot." said Harry. "So did your brother."

Ash frowned. "Really?"

"Everyone thought Death Eaters had got into the castle." added Ron darkly. "We were told to stay in our seats. A lot did. Several tried to get up – to help y'know – but the professors guarded the doors."

"When they did let us go, we were escorted back to the dormitories." sighed Hermione. "I swear, Asteria, you always-"

"Don't you dare blame me." said Ash hotly, cutting her off. "It's not my fault."

"I wasn't going to." replied Hermione quickly.

They were silent for several moments, before Ash quickly stuck up a conversation about homework and classes.

Yet it all felt so wrong. She couldn't even be in the same room as her brother because of some sort of messed up experiment. On top of that, it's only the first day of school. She'd probably terrified all the first years.

It would be better if she just wasn't here.

* * *

Castor sat in his bed. He didn't like sitting alone – blinded. He didn't even know where he was exactly. He didn't know who could get in. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't know why he could talk to his sister telepathically, and it didn't know how to control that skill. It had been about a day since their conversation, and as hard as he tried, he couldn't seem to reconnect.

He wished he was back at Durmstrang.

"Hi Castor."

Castor jumped, looking around wildly. "Who's there?"

"I've got transfiguration homework for you."

Oh for Merlin's sake. Couldn't McGonagall have sent anyone but this idiot?

"Thanks. Not that I'd be able to do it anyway."

"Ah, yeah. That must suck."

Castor's bed suddenly squeaked. Someone sat on his bed. Justin sat on his bed without even asking. What the hell gives him the right to do that? What does he even want?

Castor was pulled from his thoughts by Justin's rambling.

Had he been talking this whole time?

"-it's ridiculous really, don't you think?"

"Yeah sure." Why didn't he just admit he wasn't listening?

"Hannah's really does think you two were possessed though. She read some creepy book series over the summer-"

"Wait, who's Hannah?"

"My best mate – her and Ernie that is. You should sit with us at lunch sometime."

Castor snorted.

"What's that for?" There was a slight defensive bite to Justin's voice.

"Draco would love that."

There was a long pause. "My mother always said that if I didn't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything at all."

"Wow, and I thought I was missing something not having a mother."

"And you always like this?"

"What? A douche? Yes, or so my sister tells me."

"I was going to say a giant dripping tap of angst, but that works too. How about you just try not to be like that?"

"I'm sorry," sneered Castor. "I thought this was a free country."

"That's no excuse to be a bastard."

Castor turned to the direction he assumed Justin was sitting.

"Little to your left."

Castor adjusted his head accordingly. "Why are you here?"

"Trans-"

"Why would McGonagall have sent me homework? I'm blind at the moment."

"Maybe she wanted to-"

Castor heard the door open.

"Ew, what is that smell," screeched Pansy Parkinson.

"Clear off, Mudblood." sneered the cool voice of Draco Malfoy.

Castor didn't feel Justin move.

"Did I stutter?" Malfoy snarled.

Slowly, Justin stood and Castor felt a strange sense of loss. Probably just because the bed creaked.

"Think about the offer," Justin said, "About lunch, y'know."

Before Castor could reply, Malfoy sauntered up to Justin.

"Thanks, but Castor doesn't swing that way. A mudblood and a poofter – how proud your mother must be. Oh yes, but she's a filty little muggle, isn't she?"

Justin didn't move. He didn't rise to the bait. Was Justin gay? No, it was just something Draco said to annoy him. Then again, he was nice to him – no stop it.

"I left the homework on the table." muttered Justin. "Get well soon."

And then he left.

"What was that about?" questioned Pansy.

"Nothing," said Castor quickly. "The idiot just wanted to give me homework – which is pointless."

"All the same mudbloods – complete retards." snarled Malfoy. He gave a malicious little laugh. "Anyway, what's going on with your eyes?"

Castor bit his tongue and answered Draco's question as if nothing was wrong.

* * *

**A/N: I don't even know. I don't even know. I tried to update more frequently and it just didn't work – I have to many school/family commitments… I've also found it hard to get any inspiration. Also, this chapter is completely mental. Sorry. On a side note, I've found the perfect face Characters for Ash and Castor: Tracy Spiridakos (when she's in 'Revolution') and Dane Dehaan. (when they're younger). Let me know what you think**


	10. Chapter 10

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to let you all know that I will likely not continue to update this story... I'm sorry

However, I wrote a few one-shots over the last few months that I was hoping to get into the story at some point, that I will post individually (mainly Castor/Justin bits, and Neville/Ash, or Ash/George bits)

If anyone wanted to know what I had planned for the ending, send me a message. I won't type it here because in a few months - when I have more free time and inspiration - then I may finish this fic.

Thank you everyone for reading


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